We Could Be Heroes
by JuliaKerns5
Summary: [AU][RLSB tension][SFDT][SFNT][GWSS][CDHA][CCDM][CCSB] Heroes in Harry Potter form! Rated M for murder and implying of things. You don't need to watch Heroes to understand this. R&R!
1. Genesis

Disclaimer: We do not own Harry Potter, or Heroes. We use characters from Harry Potter and lines and concepts/plot from Heroes.

_Genesis_

By: _MisbehavingBubbles_,_ ReachIntoTheSky_,_ HermioneGranger47393, HelplessRomantic_,_ JuliaKerns5_,_ IdOnTwAnTyOuToSeEmEcRy_,_ LadyPurple_,and_ XAdorkablexXxHotshotX_

_Where does it come from—this quest, this need to solve life's mysteries when the simplest of questions can never be answered? Why are we here? What is the soul? Why do we dream? Perhaps we'd be better off not looking at all. Not delving, not yearning. But that's not human nature. Not the human heart. That is not why we are here._

These weren't normal dreams.

They were special, just like he was.

Eyes closed, arms outstretched, he could feel the sky on his skin. The sun on his hair, the wind on his face. The soaring of a bird, the flying of a plane, it was all radiating off of him. Building after building scattered by him, he was higher than he had ever felt being, his hands touching the sky – cloud after cloud moving farther away from him as he felt himself lower faster and faster until finally he –

"How is he?"

Sirius snapped out of his trance, jolting up in his chair, eyes popping. Silently sighing, he heard the clank of keys on glass, and stared ahead. Cho walked in quietly while she slipped off her jacket, grinning curtly at Sirius. Sirius stood up almost immediately, rather flustered, smoothing down his hair.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." Cho apologized, intertwining her own hands.

"Oh, no, you didn't," Sirius said immediately, moving over to the bed. "I was… I keep on having these amazing dreams every time I close my eyes, it feel's like I'm – never mind." He stopped himself, grabbing the needle from the bedside table.

"How is he?" Cho repeated, leaning over her father gently and tucking down his hair.

"A couple more days, I suspect."

Cho bit her lip.

"Oh."

Sirius awkwardly stood behind her form while she stared at her father and leant onto the bed.

"Er – I need to give him his medicine." He mumbled, holding up the needle. Cho retreated instantly, watching as Sirius prepped the needle.

"I really appreciate you doing this, you know." She muttered.

Sirius turned. "What?"

"This. Taking care of him, I mean. It means a lot to my dad. You're like a son to him." Cho confessed, tucking back a strand of hair.

Sirius snorted. "_That_ would basically make us brother and sister, which would be a little awkward in case I ever wanted to ask you out." Eyes growing wide, he stepped back from the bed, apologizing.

"Sorry, I – that was inappropriate."

Cho smiled at him. "No, it was sweet… but… I'm dating somebody–"

Sirius immediately held up a hand to stop her. "Yeah, and that's fine… lucky guy." He muttered, before Cho grinned and turned back to her father.

"Thanks, Sirius." She said, withdrawing from the bed and backing up towards the door. Sirius nodded courteously towards her, smiling, even though the second he heard the door close he sighed and buried his head in his hands.

S E V E R U S S N A P E

"Man is a narcissistic species by nature," Severus said loudly, facing his chalkboard. Hands behind his back, his eyes scanned over the map in the corner. Eyes snapping back to the chalkboard he turned around. "We have colonized the corners of our planet."

Walking towards his desk, he slid onto the corner, smirking. "Yet we are not the biblical of so-called evolution. That honor belongs to the mighty cockroach."

Looks were glanced in his direction. Severus stared hard at the confused faces, lacing his fingers together.

He raised an eyebrow. "Think about it, students… being able to live months without food… remaining alive headless… resistant to radiation!" Snape smiled smugly at the lot of them. "If God has indeed created himself in his own image, then I submit to you, that God… is a cockroach."

Murmurs echoed in the classroom and Snape sneered down at them.

"They say that God uses only a tenth of his brain power," He said loudly, and they all silenced. "Another percent and we actually might be worthy of God's image."

He slid off of the desk and walked slowly to the corner of the classroom.

"Yet of course that day has already arrived," The students furrowed their brows and muttered more among themselves. Severus ignored them.

"The human gene project has discovered that tiny radiations in man's genetic code are taking place in increasingly rapid rates." He leant on one of his student's desk, staring boringly into her eyes.

Snapping back, Snape smoothed down his jacket sleekly. Something sparkled in his eyes.

"Teleportation! Levitation! Rapid tissue regeneration! Is this all outside the realm of possibility?" His face actually looked excited, determined… smiling. "Or is man entering a new gateway of evolution? Is he finally standing at the threshold of human potential?!" Eyeing his stiff students eagerly, his gaze wandered upon the door, where McGonagall stood with raised eyebrows. She put her hands on her hips.

"I – I'm sorry, I'm out of time."

McGonagall ushered the students out before crossing her arms. "This isn't what you're supposed to be teaching, Severus." She mumbled strictly.

"I… fine," Snape muttered, running a hand through his hair. "I'm not. But – how much did you hear?"

"Enough to know that you're searching for things that don't exact. Teleportation, Snape? Levitation?"

"It has to be out there." Severus said determinedly.

"Not anymore, Snape!" McGonagall shouted exasperatedly. "It never was and it never will be! Stop chasing a dream!"

Snape retreated to behind his desk, staring at the wood quietly. "I know. I'm starting to sound like my father. I can't help it. You know, you can fire me too, McGonagall! But there is something to it! As crazy as it sounds."

McGonagall had finally calmed down, her eyes on the floor quietly.

"What?"

"It's… it's your father," Minerva murmured. "H-He's dead."

The immediate silence was painful as Snape gaped at McGonagall.

L I L Y E V A N S AND H A R R Y E V A N S

This was definitely _not_ what she had ever imagined herself doing.

Lily Evans wasn't a slut. She wasn't a whore. But the way she was portraying herself on that bed in front of that running camera, she made herself both.

She had never been a good actress. So smiling seductively at the lens was turning into quite a task.

Lily was doing this for the money. It certainly wasn't fun knowing that some idiot in an office or in a bedroom would be watching her at that very moment, just so she'd be able to pay the electricity bill. Her 'website' was her job, and she wasn't proud of it.

Licking her lips and slipping her shirt off of her stomach slowly, Lily threw her head back as ruby curls fell off of her shoulders.

The loose strands of fabric stuck to her hair as she very, very unhurriedly pulled off her diaphanous shirt. The more she spent her time pulling things off very carefully the less she would have to take off. Turning around on the bed so the camera viewed her back, she looked back over her shoulder and smirked at the camera as she unhooked her bra.

As her fingers grazed her skin, she moved to the waistband of her underwear, only to be stopped.

A beeping noise interrupted the music, and almost automatically Lily slipped off of the bed and reached for her robe, scurrying over to the computer.

_Time's up_. She typed.

_Little more… please_.

Groaning at the response, Lily typed back. _It'll cost you another thirty-nine dollars._

_BITCH!!!_

Narrowing her eyes at the screen, she slammed it down. "Pervert." She muttered, standing up. Turning around towards her dresser she slid into her clothing, before turning to the mirror.

When she saw her mirror image frowning sneeringly at her figure, crossing its arms. Lily gasped and looked down, where her arms were by her side. The mirror scowled at her.

Turning away, she ran from the room to her son's bedroom, which was empty.

"Harry?" She asked quietly, peering into the doorway. "Harry!!"

Turning to the next room, she sighed, where her son was pouring over a computer. She buried her face in her hands before walking up to him and putting an arm around his shoulder.

"Oh, Harry, don't do that to me." She whispered, leaning her forehead against his.

"What?" Ten-year-old Harry asked innocently, still playing with the computer.

"We… we have to be careful." Lily told him softly, smoothing back his hair.

"Sorry. I was just working on my computer, Mum." Harry mumbled.

Lily looked at the computer, smiling, until her eyes fell upon a small black box next to it. "What's this?" She asked curiously, picking up the box.

"It's the solar eclipse. The moon's supposed to cover up the sun today."

Lily smiled at him. "Did I ever tell you that you're the smartest little man on the planet?" She said softly, playing with a strand of his messy black hair.

"You do," Harry said. "All the time."

"Well, that's good."

"We're supposed to examine the eclipse in school."

Lily stood up dazedly, tucking a strand of red hair behind her ear. "Speaking of which, you need to go get ready."

"Mum," Harry said seriously, looking up at her. "I already packed my lunch and my homework. What have you done this morning?"

Lily grimaced. "Don't get smart with me," She said sharply. "I've been working to pay our bills."

Harry looked down at his computer again. "Is that why they turned off our gas again?"

About to tell Harry to not talk back to his mother, Lily gasped as the door rung loudly. Her head snapped towards the window alertfully, eyes full of fear.

"Get our backpack and wait by the door." She said firmly, gaze still upon the curtains.

"Why?"

"Just do it, Harry." Lily said resolutely, and when Harry had retreated to his room, she peeled away the curtains an inch and stared out.

Two of Dumbledore's thugs.

H E R M I O N E W E A S L E Y / G R A N G E R

The camera zoomed up and in pathetically as the sound of _tap-tap-tapping_ of footsteps on metal filled the clearing. Dust blew towards Neville as he held the camera protectively away from the wind. Finally getting the control of the buttons, Neville focused the lens towards the stairs, which Hermione was still running up madly.

"Camera ready, Neville?!" She called, reaching the top of the metal stairs and squinting down at Neville. The sun boiled down on them.

"Yeah!!" He shouted back up. "Uh, remind me what I'm filming again?"

"You'll see!" She exclaimed with a smile, hand over her forehead to keep the sun from her eyes.

"Uh, okay." He backed up as Hermione climbed on the opposite side of the railing. His eyes grew wide. "Er, Hermione? That's like seventy – eighty feet, you know–"

But Hermione had already let go of the railing and was plummeting toward the rocks face forward, screaming wildly.

"HERMIONE!" He yelled, the camera spinning out of control as Neville jumped. Jolting in circles and covering his eyes, Neville heard a thud. The screaming stopped.

"Oh my god," He mumbled, running towards the rocks, where Hermione lay motionless on the rocks. "Hermione! _Hermione_!" He screamed loudly, the camera flying in all directions as he ran towards her.

"Oh my – oh my god, Hermione!! Hermione!" Neville roared, his sweaty hand grasping for the camera as he cantered towards her figure. He knelt down near her, still yelling her name.

Hermione got up from the rocks, her arm and shoulder hanging out of her socket as she sighed. There was a deep gash on her cheek and her forehead as she took her dirty fingers to replace her dislocated shoulder. With a _pop_ it was back in place.

"I – Hermione." Neville murmured in shock, the camera miraculously still on her form.

Hermione smoothed out her shoulder, panting breathlessly, before looking at the camera seriously. "This is Hermione Weasley," She muttered. "And that was attempt number six."

And the scars on her face faded away completely.

S I R I U S B L A C K

The wind sweeping past his face, arms outstretched into the sky… he was flying. He was actually flying. Along the buildings and across the bridge, over the lake and past the meadows… he even dared to look down into the watery depths of the lake, and up to the sunny abyss of the sky… He came closer to the city, head first, arms and legs flailing as the ground came closer in slow… slow… motion. Someone was on the ground… someone was waiting for him…

Remus.

Jumping back to life, Sirius heard the passing of a train car as he jolted awake. Realizing that he had been in a taxi, he sighed, checking his watch. He still had time. Burying his face in his hands, Sirius slumped back to the seat, staring out the window. A truck was right in view, with the words:

Remus Lupin for Congress 

Smiling slightly, Sirius paid the taxi-driver and left the car.

Hurrying inside the building, Sirius darted towards his brother, panting.

"What do want, Sirius, I need to call Mr. Dumbledore–"

"It happened twice." Sirius muttered quietly, putting a hand on Remus' desk. "Sometimes I'm falling and sometimes I'm flying. Sometimes you're even in it!"

"I don't have time for this." Remus dismissed, sauntering away from Sirius.

"Remus, these aren't _normal_ dreams!" Sirius said loudly, grabbing Remus' shoulder.

"Hold this." Remus muttered, thrusting a briefcase into Sirius' hands.

"I thought they would go away but they're not."

"Get these back to me by six, please." Remus said to one of his secretaries. Sirius impatiently pulled on his brother's wrists and faced him.

"This morning," He began seriously. "Just when I got out of bed, my foot hovered, actually _hovered_ before it hit the ground. For just a second! Like I was… floating."

Remus jerked away from his grasp and shoved papers onto a desk, staring at a clipboard silently.

"I…" Sirius looked around him to make sure that nobody was listening. "I think I can fly."

Remus looked awkwardly at the assistant that was listening in to their conversation and laughed falsely, pushing Sirius into his cubicle. "Tell you what, Sirius, if you think you can fly why don't you jump off of the Brooklyn Bridge and see what happens." He gave Sirius a stern look.

"Maybe I should start with something lower… like learning to walk on–"

Remus opened the door to the building and walked out of it, pulling Sirius along with him.

"You're serious?"

"Yeah."

Remus swung an arm around his brother. "You need to snap out of it, Siri," He said stonily. "See a doctor. Get some medicine. Do _not_ waste my time, I'm already late for my fundraiser–"

Sirius wrenched off the arm on his shoulder. "This isn't about you, alright?" He growled, and then softened slightly. "Something's happening to me, and I have a feeling that you're the only person who can understand this."

"Why the hell do you think that I would understand that you think you can fly?" He snarled.

"Because… because you're my brother." Sirius murmured.

H E R M I O N E W E A S L E Y / G R A N G E R

"I'm so depressed." Hermione muttered, her bag swung over her shoulder. Neville stumbled over several rocks as he watched the tape in awe.

"What? What are you talking about, why?" He asked, eyes still on the camera. He looked up. "Besides the fact that I was really grossed out at first when you jumped into rocks from eighty feet high this is the single coolest thing that has happened to this town in like a hundred years!"

Hermione sighed. "Not if nobody finds out."

Neville furrowed his brows confusedly. "Then why did you want me to tape you?"

"I have my reasons." Hermione said shortly.

"It's not like you're not going to be popular anymore." Neville said, advancing on his bike. Hermione stopped.

"_Popular_? Who said anything about being _popular_? My life as I know it is over, okay?" She said heatedly. "I've got a game next week, SATs in October, Homecoming is three weeks from today and I'm a freakshow!"

Neville looked up at her. "You're being a little dramatic, don't you think?"

"No! I don't think!" Hermione shouted, hovering over Neville. "I've like busted every bone in my body, stabbed myself in the chest, rammed into a car headfirst thirty times and I don't have a scratch on me!"

Neville awkwardly flushed. "Then… er, what do you call that thing, sticking out?" He pointed towards her stomach, where two rib bones were sticking out of her side.

Hermione sighed. "Great." She muttered, stuffing them back into her skin. It healed instantly.

"Just give me the tape, okay?" She mumbled, holding out her hand. Neville put the tape on her palm. Hermione walked away from him silently.

"I can give you ride, if you want!" Neville said, blushing slightly.

She turned around, rather apologetically. "Look, thanks, okay? I'll… talk to you in front of people at school tomorrow…? Promise."

S E V E R U S S N A P E

"Driving a taxi in New York City is a very dangerous job!" McGonagall reassured Snape loudly, running along side him with her umbrella flinging next to her. Snape shook his head, running throw the sleet hurriedly.

"No! I spoke to him two days ago, he was convinced that someone was following him – trying to steal his research!" Severus said firmly, splashing across the street with McGonagall in close pursuit. "He died because of his theories!"

"That's crazy!" Minerva howled, keeping a firm hold on her umbrella.

"Is it?" Snape asked sharply, whipping around.

"The man left his family – discredited his career to chase wild theories halfway around the world! Where are you going?!" McGonagall cried exasperatedly, running after Snape again.

"To his apartment, to get his research! He was _this_ close to finding something! His patient zero!" Severus barked, throwing himself up soaked stairs.

"Severus! Listen to me!" Minerva said, grabbing onto Snape's arm. "Your father was my friend, and my colleague. A respected Professor, a brilliant genesisit! But he had clearly lost touch with reality!"

Snape narrowed his eyes at McGonagall. "I followed in his footsteps. My thesis is based on his research!"

"Yes, and you had always wanted his approval!"

"And now you are telling me that it resolved for nothing!" Snape said madly.

"I'm telling you," Minerva said desperately. "To let go."

"I need to know why he died, I need to know that it wasn't all for nothing," Severus said firmly. "And then I need to finish what he started."

Running up the rest of the fire escape, he closed his umbrella and entered the building. Ambling to his father's apartment, he opened the door and gaped at the mess. His father had left everything behind. Severus had no idea where Minerva had gone, but he didn't care.

Taking off his coat, Snape stared at the mess before him. His eyes scanning every detail, they fell upon glasses… horned rimmed glasses.

"These aren't my father's." He mumbled quietly, examining them. He put them back down, however, and instead observed a large map in front of him, with thousands of strings all attached and intertwining with pins. Next to it was a large box with hundreds of files labeled _Teleportation_,_ Rapid Cellular Regeneration_, _Human Flight_. Pictures in frames of himself with his father…

He went back to the map, however, to inspect the map and it's mysterious strings.

There was a noise outside of the wall.

Jumping back fearfully, Snape listened alertfully. Had the killer come back to murder him, too? He rapidly gathered his jacket back up into his arms, fumbling for the pocket that held his camera. Severus had to look at this apartment more carefully, but there simply wasn't any time. His insides jittering, he clamped the camera into his hands to take as many pictures as he could of the rooms, before hurrying out again.

S E A M U S F I N N I G A N AND D E A N T H O M A S

Seamus couldn't help but ignore his screen as his eyes concentrated on the clock next to him. The second hand moving slowly in circles, Seamus glanced around his cubicle. Nobody looking…

Concentrating hard on the clock, he squinted.

Nothing happened.

He had been sure that if he concentrated, he could stop time. Move it back. Do something… drastic. Stopping time was pretty cool. At least Seamus thought so, even though Dean didn't. Dean wanted to be someone normal. Seamus didn't.

Sitting in his office cubicle in London was too boring for Seamus. So turning off the computer screen and turning to face the clock with a deep breath seemed like a logical thing to do. It was a cure for boredom and definitely unimportance.

He squinted again so his eyes were narrow slits.

Nothing…

His cheeks were wobbling wildly.

Nothing…

His face was turning red.

Still nothing…

His eyebrows were furrowed tightly.

Nothing… and then –

The second hand stopped for a millisecond, moved backwards one fraction of an inch, and then kept on going it merry way in clockwise circles.

"I did it!" Seamus yelled, standing up, and running over madly to Dean's cubicle. "I did it!!"

"What now?" Dean grumbled, his pen poised over paper.

"You'll never believe it, Dean, but I've broken the space and time continuum!" He boomed loudly, jumping slightly.

"Good for you."

"I made it go back one second!" Seamus explained, kneeling down by Dean's desk. "Using_ only_ my mind and thoughts."

"Too bad you're not paid by the hour." Dean muttered.

"I'm serious!" Seamus said furiously. "Like – this morning – the subway–"

"What is the big deal if the subway is _fourteen seconds late_?" Dean asked exasperatedly.

"The subway is _never_ late." Seamus said persistently.

"Until _you_ made it late!!" Dean said sarcastically, outstretching his hands and leaning back in fake awe. "Using only your mind!"

"Yes!" Seamus said determinedly. "I have discovered powers beyond any mere mortal."

"Right…"

"I have! You'll see–"

"Are you gonna make the train late again?" Dean asked sardonically.

"Yes! Just so _you'll_ be late for work!" Seamus said firmly, smiling, when their superior came over and dragged Seamus back to his desk resolutely.

Dean, smiling widely, turned back to his monitor with the pen and paper forgotten, only to turn his attention to –

Lily Evans and her online site, along with her camera.

L I L Y E V A N S AND H A R R Y E V A N S

"Harry," The principal began with a crooked smile. "Is a very intelligent boy."

Lily smiled.

"Gifted, actually… But that's not the issue." The principal said, settling down into his chair.

"His father's not around," Lily explained immediately. "And sometimes I think that he could use a bit of a stronger hand, you know? I work a lot, but…" She grinned in a promising way. "We can both work harder." Thinking that the matter was settled, she straightened up in her chair.

"It's not about the work."

Her face dropped. "What?" Lily asked.

"The truth is, I just don't think that this school is the right fit for him."

"But he's made friends." Lily said rather worriedly.

"I'm sorry, Miss Evans."

"He's on the soccer team." She persisted.

"I'm sorry."

Lily's face angered slightly. "I wrote a check for twenty five thousand dollars to get him into this snob fest," She muttered. "I was told that that's what it took. That's on top of the tuition."

The principal rifled through some papers calmly. "About the tuition," He said smoothly. "Your last three checks have bounced."

"Fine!" Lily said. "Take it out of the twenty five grand I gave you!"

The principal shook his head with a smile. "That was a donation… and it was very appreciated." He added sleekly, adjusting his tie.

Lily bit her lower lip, before lowering her voice warningly. "Well, I want my money back." When the Principal simply continued staring at her, she pursed her lips dangerously. "I want my money back, _now_."

"That money is already spent."

"Then unspend it." Lily snarled.

"I'm sorry." The man repeated, the smile still smirking on his face. He stood up. "We may discuss an extension of the money that you owe–"

Lily stood up in a frenzy and grabbed the Principal's tie and yanking him her way. "I want my money back." She muttered forcefully.

The Principal, not looking quite so smooth anymore, tried to back up. "That's not possible." He whispered.

Lily didn't wait for another word from the man as she let go of his tie harshly and watched him stagger back into the wall. She walked from the room, grabbing onto Harry's hand determinedly, and running.

"Come on, Harry, let's get out of here," She said. "We're too good for this place."

Harry followed, walking out slowly.

"What happened, Mum?"

Lily didn't answer. Instead she clicked the elevator button on the door, examining herself in the metal, when she saw an irritated face crossing her arms and scowling at her through the iron.

"Leave me alone!" She mumbled at the elevator, until it opened and she ushered inside.

H E R M I O N E W E A S L E Y / G R A N G E R

Smoke billowed up as flames passed by the shooting rockets of water. Standing still by the wreck of the train car, Hermione stopped. Neville looked in awe.

"Awesome." He mumbled.

Hermione listened to the screaming firemen with concern. "They're saying that somebody's in the train," She said.

"They'll get him out in time." Neville said, watching the flames in fascination.

"How hot do you think it's in there?"

Neville looked at her confusedly. "What?"

"Get the camera." She murmured, handing him the tape and vanishing from his sight a second later.

Ducking under 'CAUTION' signs and banners around the area, she turned around to see Neville holding up the camera expectantly. Hermione ran.

Dodging a spurt of fire, she darted inside the burning train car.

Coughing madly, she looked through the flames. Only smoke.

Running farther into the train, Hermione heard helpless coughing. Eyes wide, and dashed forward and watched the smoke filled air, trying to look between it. A shadowy figure was concealed behind it.

She hurried to him, carrying him up by the arm and leading him out by the wrist. By the time she could see air again, her clothes were on fire and the man was coughing uncontrollably. One of the fireman screamed and put down his hose.

Hermione felt another fireman shout and run in her direction, putting out her clothes by throwing his jacket on her ash-laden body. She tried to push him off.

"No, no, I'm fine! I'm fine!" She said loudly, feeling the flames go out. The firemen removed the coat and yanked open the burnt clothes with a tear. Her elbow was exposed as he ripped the fabric.

"There's no burns." He said incredulously.

Hermione stared at him stonily, getting up from the floor and running madly, past the caution signs and back to Neville, who was still taping the entire thing.

"Are you okay?" He said automatically, grabbing her arms as he saw her soot covered form.

"I'm fine," Hermione mumbled. "Don't be as bad as the fireman."

Neville put down the camera. "I got everything. No lung damage? No burns?"

Hermione nodded, smiling faintly at Neville.

S E V E R U S S N A P E

"This is the one I want." Snape muttered to the desk clerk, his hands brushing the number on the door.

"Are you sure? I think that… I dunno… the Snape Professor lived here. Left everything behind. Janitor hasn't cleaned it out yet." The man asked.

"I don't want it cleaned." Snape said firmly.

"Do you have the money to pay for this monthly? What will you be doing?"

"I'll have a job." Snape pleaded.

"What job?"

He gulped. "My father's job. I'll be driving a taxi."

The man shrugged and handed over the keys. "Enjoy, then. Let me get you an application from downstairs."

Snape opened the door as the man walked away. Examining the musty study, he sighed, when a sight caught his eyes.

The horned rimmed glasses were gone.

Gasping, Snape stared at the empty desk, running his hand along the dust. His research box was right at the other end of the table as Severus's fingers reached it. Reading through most of the thesis, pulling out file after file, he found a tape at the very bottom of the box.

Labeled: Voldemort.

L I L Y E V A N S AND H A R R Y E V A N S

"What are we doing?" Harry asked in anticipation as Lily parked the car outside of Marlene McKinnon's house.

"I just have to pack up a few things at our house, okay?"

"We really should go see Dad." Harry mumbled, and Lily grabbed his hand.

"We can't do that, Harry." Lily told him, steering him up the steps.

"He could help. He should know that someone is trying to hurt us." Harry said persistently.

"Your dad's not in any condition to help us right now." Lily said, reaching the door and ringing the bell.

"But–"

Lily knelt down beside Harry. "Look," She said softly. "I made some mistakes."

"What'd you do?" Harry asked somewhat worriedly.

Lily sighed and leant her forehead against Harry's. "Harry," She murmured. "I need you to know that I would never let anything happen to you. Promise."

Harry looked at Lily concernedly. "Mum," He started. "Why did you look at yourself like that in the elevator door?"

Lily, somewhat speechless, heard the door open and jumped up to see Marlene standing in the doorway. She sighed.

"How long?"

Lily bit her lip. "Just a couple hours tops."

Marlene smiled at Harry. "There's some ice cream in the fridge." Harry walked in, passing Marlene.

Marlene looked stonily at Lily. "What happened?"

Lily sighed, leaning her head against the doorframe. "I went to see Dumbledore."

Marlene looked down, touching her hair. "How much did you take from him, Lily?" She whispered.

"I… only thirty thousand."

"You gambling?" Marlene asked sternly.

"No!" Lily cried. "It's just bills… and I used the rest to get Harry into Private School. I didn't know what to do with him at Public School, and…" She stepped into the house. "Ever since James left we simply didn't have money."

Marlene closed the door behind her.

"Hell, Lily," Marlene said seriously. "You weren't born yesterday."

"The money's two weeks overdue," Lily said, her eyes pooling. "I thought I could handle it, okay? I'm just under a lot of stress–"

"Yeah, I wonder why!" Marlene shouted.

Lily bit her lip, being silent for a moment. "I'm… I'm seeing things, Marlene."

"Like?"

"Like… like someone's watching me."

"Yeah!" Marlene said. "Dumbledore wants his money back so he sends along some mouthbreathers that are gonna put you in the hospital!"

"No, it's someone else," Lily murmured, tears beginning to form in the corner of her eyes. "Someone I can't see. Does… does this make any sense to you?" She asked desperately.

Marlene shook her head. "No."

Lily threw her head back exasperatedly, before leaning back and brushing off her tears. "I'm sorry, you know what – I shouldn't be telling you this."

"Let me tell you what does make sense, Lily," Marlene said sternly. "You need to come up with that thirty grand plus interest _now_. Or you gotta run."

Lily stood quietly for a moment. "Watch Harry." She muttered, before heading for the door.

D R A C O M A L F O Y

Another bucket of paint cracked open as the TV ran in the background. Dipping his hand into the bucket, Draco smeared his hand over a painting on one of his easels, barely paying attention to the television. He dipped his hand again into the paint to cover the rest, splattering black all over the floor. He furiously threw the empty bucket into a corner and reached the for the next one.

His fingers rubbed over a painting with a boiling glass of water – a man holding it. It was _evil_.

"Hey." Draco heard from the door, but he didn't look. He simply kept on smearing his paintings.

"Oh god, what, the silent treatment?" The same voice said again. Draco threw his blackened out painting across the room furiously, seeing Cho standing in the doorway.

"Draco?" She asked, as the painting hit the window. Walking into his flat, she walked over to him. He opened another can of paint, throwing the entire bucket onto the canvas with sinister gulping sounds coming from the paint as it splattered out.

"Draco, what are you doing?" Cho asked a bit more urgently.

Draco picked up another painting and put it on his easel, preparing the blacken it out.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Cho asked, staring at the painting on the easel. It was tonight's solar eclipse.

"_Draco_," She said, and when he reached for the can of paint, she stepped in the way. "Okay, _stop_." Cho said firmly.

Draco stared at her.

"What, are you crazy?"

Draco glared breathlessly at the blackened out canvases. "I don't even remember painting these," He said, and then swallowed. "I was high, okay? I lied to you. I kept on using them."

"Dammit." Cho mumbled.

Draco walked over to the painting he threw. "I've been using them for months still."

"Then get yourself into a program and make it stick this time," Cho said sternly, staring at the eclipse painting. "These are all _fantastic_–"

"No," Draco interrupted firmly. "They're evil."

"What are you talking about?" Cho asked helplessly, leaning on the desk.

"What I'm talking about?" Draco repeated furiously, running over to the other side of the apartment and grabbing another painting. He cleared a table with one sweep of his hands and placed the painting on it. "See this?" He muttered. "Suicide bombing in Israel. I painted it, three weeks ago!"

"Yeah, so?" Cho asked, holding the painting fondly.

"So?" Draco repeated again, throwing paint-laden hands around a newspaper and thrusting it into Cho's hands. "That's this morning's paper. Look at the number on the burning bus in the painting. They match."

Cho examined the painting and the newspaper with a sigh.

"This happened yesterday," Draco said, with a false laugh. "Yesterday," His eyes turned stony. "Something's… wrong with me."

Cho covered her mouth with her hands. "We'll get you help, Draco." She said firmly.

"I tried that. There's only one way now."

"You can't just _quit_ all of a sudden!" Cho cried. "Not alone, I mean – let me help you, please!"

"No!" Draco shouted determinedly, backing away from Cho and sinking down by the wall.

"I love you!" Cho said hopelessly.

Draco growled. "I'll drag you down with me, I swear I will. Just leave me alone."

Cho knelt down and touched his shoulder.

"GET OUT OF HERE!" Draco yelled forcefully, jerking off her hand and snapping at the contact.

Cho held up her hands defensively, standing up.

"NOW!"

Biting her lip, Cho left the apartment in a flash.

Breathlessly, Draco ran a hand through his hair, leaning against the wall, staring at the television, where a burning train car was on the news. Gasping, he looked right next to the TV, where an easel with a painting stood innocently. A painting of a burning train car that matched the exact film of the news crew.

Draco gaped.

S I R I U S B L A C K

Sirius held his hand up for a taxi, sun boiling down on his shoulders. Obediently stopping at his feet, Sirius climbed into the car and sighed. Leaning his head back on the seat and staring out into the sky, he put on his sunglasses as he saw the solar eclipse.

"Wow." He muttered.

"Solar eclipse." The driver said, and Sirius smiled at the driver.

"Yeah. Wonder when it's going to be total."

"Not here," The man said with a shake of his head. "But in some other part of the world. It's quite a global event. Makes one appreciate just how small our planet really is."

Sirius stared at him.

"And we're all quite small, really, aren't we?" The driver finished gravely.

"What's your name?" Sirius asked conversationally.

"Severus." The driver said.

"I'm Sirius."

Severus the driver nodded curtly.

Sirius smiled. "Let me ask you something, Severus," He said. "Do you ever get the feeling that you're meant to do something… extraordinary?" He asked with a slight shrug.

"I'm driving a cab," Severus responded half-heartedly. "If you may have noticed."

"No, I'm not talking about what you do," Sirius corrected himself. "I'm talking about who you are. I'm talking about… being special." He murmured.

"Yes, we are all special." Severus replied.

"I – that's not what I meant." Sirius said, but he had finished the conversation.

Severus raised an eyebrow, and stared into the review mirror into Sirius' face.

"While yes, it is true that some individuals are more special than others. This is natural selection," He said. "It's just like any other person. Born, or hatched, like any other member of their species… anonymous… seemingly ordinary… except they're not."

Sirius smiled into the front seat.

"They carry inside them the genetic code that will carry their species into the next evolution of the world," Severus continued, seeming as though he was talking to himself. He stared into the review mirror at Sirius' eyes. "It's destiny."

L I L Y E V A N S

Lily arrived back at her house later on in the day, creeping inside the door and watching her every footstep. Somebody _could_ be inside her house, waiting for her to arrive.

Walking carefully into the empty living room, she looked behind the couch, but it was only shadows. It was only when she turned around when she saw a large man scouring her kitchen, that her eyes widened and she tried to hurry back to the door, only to feel a strong grip of hands on her neck. The second thug brought by Dumbledore.

"Welcome home." The man sneered, leading her away from the door.

Entering the garage, the man released his grip on Lily, making her stagger to the bed. The camera was still sitting on its tripod right in front of her. With a gulp, she faced the two thugs.

"Fifty grand is a lot of money." One of them growled.

"Fifty?" Lily repeated breathlessly. "It was only thirty! Even with interest–"

"Dumbledore is trying to be nice about this," The man barked. "You should have read the fine print."

"Look," Lily said fearfully. "I have a son."

"Aw." The thug said sarcastically.

"I'm all he's got."

"Aw." He repeated.

"Please, I can get you the money!" Lily promised.

"I'm gonna tell you what I'm gonna do," The man sneered. "I'm gonna make you a little business proposition. You make – what? – forty bucks for every twenty minutes you take off your clothes? Well, I'm gonna give you the chance to lower your dept a little."

The other man was already setting up a camera, and in no time he was holding it up to Lily's face. The man leant back in a chair, smirking.

"Come on," He coaxed. "Show me what you've got."

Lily stared at the camera with loathing before she furiously got off of the bed, and threw off her jacket in one sweep, glaring at the man's direction, who was laughing heartlessly.

"Come on," He repeated. "Take off your shirt, baby."

Lily ran a hand over her eyes for a moment, before breathing deeply.

"Smile for me…" The man whispered when Lily raised her shirt only an inch.

"Is that what you want?" She asked back fearfully.

"Ahhh yes."

Lily ignored the tears threatening to fall in her eyes, avoiding the men's eyes completely. She stared hard into the mirror in front of her, only to see her form looking disbelievingly back at her. That wasn't her –

"What's the matter, baby?"

Lily didn't pay attention.

"Come on, you just started getting good here! What's the problem, baby?"

Lily kept on staring at her mirror, eyes that were coldly staring back at her. An image that wasn't herself.

Before she knew it, the man had stood. "I said what's the matter." He reminded, and slapped her across the face.

Lily fell onto the bed with a groan, before rising back up from the pillows. "Screw you." She whispered warningly.

"Screw me?" The guy said incredulously, and slapped for the second time in the face, effectively knocking her out.

S E A M U S F I N N I G A N AND D E A N T H O M A S

"I'm not the only one who can bend time and space, you know," Seamus muttered firmly. "There are others too."

"Fine," Dean said. "I'll humor you. Let's say you really do have this power. What do you do with it? Join the circus? Nobody ever got laid by stopping the second hand of a clock."

Seamus ignored him. "As I develop my powers," He mumbled to himself. "I'll learn how to bend space too. Then I can teleport myself anywhere on the planet!"

"Lovely."

"Every hero must learn his purpose," Seamus said. "Then he'll be tested and called to greatness."

"I think I need a drink." Dean said, walking ahead.

"Fine," Seamus agreed. "You know," He said, changing the subject again. "People think of time as a straight line. But time is actually more like a circle."

"Please." Dean brushes off, walking into the nearest bar and sitting down. Seamus follows him.

"Every ten year old wishes he has super powers. And I got them!" Seamus said incredulously. "_Me_ of all people! Last in my class, last on the sports field, I'm not a loser anymore!"

"Tell me one useful thing that you could do with this 'power' of yours," Dean asked, using air quotations. "Can you make money?"

"A super hero doesn't use his power for personal gain, Dean…" Seamus corrected wisely.

"Then what good is it?" Dean asked. "Can you teleport yourself into the women's bathroom?"

Seamus stared at the door.

"Now there's something useful," Dean said with a grin. "You won't learn your purpose in there, but you may learn something about life!"

"Fine," Seamus said. "If I had to, yes. I could teleport into the women's bathroom."

"Great," Dean said with a smile. "I'll grab us beers."

"I'm going to teleport!" Seamus shouted after him, staring hard at the women's bathroom. He heard Dean chuckle.

L I L Y E V A N S

In a blur of pain and tiredness, Lily woke up at the sound of the telephone ringing in her garage.

Why… she was in the garage – and – gasping, she slapped a hand to her forehead. Dumbledore. Those two thugs had come after her and… and _taped_ her –

The answering machine came on, a small tinny noise coming through.

"Mum? When are you coming to get me… it's been a long time. Just hurry, okay? Bye." Lily shot up in the bed, recognizing Harry's voice. Her fingers clamped tightly around the answering machine, when her eyes fell upon the sight next to the phone.

Gasping, Lily covered her eyes, turning away with short raspy breaths. Looking to the other side of her, she saw almost the same sight, except worse.

The two thugs were dead – on the floor of her garage, and bloody.

A bloody mess of gashes and scars and a bit too much insides – Lily felt her stomach churning as she scrambled off of the bed and looked hastily around herself. Who had killed them while she had been unconscious?

Glancing around herself, her gaze fell to the mirror, where she gasped again. A satisfied smirk looked smugly back at her, with blood covered on her mirror's reflection's shirt. Looking downwards, Lily only saw the clean linen she had been wearing all day, and when her eyes returned to the mirror, her bloody reflection raised a finger to her mouth in a 'shh' gesture. Lily ran.

S I R I U S B L A C K

Still staring at the solar eclipse from the cab that Severus was driving, Sirius heard a ringing coming from his cell phone. Jumping up, he fumbled inside his pocket, seeing his cell phone flash the words _Cho_ on the front. His mouth forming a small 'o' he flipped it open.

"Cho?" He asked, hearing a frantic scuttling on the opposite end of the phone.

"Sirius," She murmured. "Er – are you busy?"

"No, I was just heading home." He responded, biting his lip.

"I need you to meet me at my dad's." Cho said urgently through the phone.

"Okay, I'll be there in ten minutes."

"Alright – just hurry, okay?"

"Sure, I'll see you then." Sirius finished, closing the phone as Cho bid him goodbye and hung up as well. He leant forward in his seat.

"I'll hope out here, please." He said to Severus, depositing money through the crack of the window. Severus nodded, watching Sirius as he walked away.

He heard the car door open and turned, seeing a man entering the cab. Promptly straightening in his seat, he called to the back seat:

"Where to, my friend?"

"JFK, please." The man's smooth voice replied. Severus restarted the car, staring absently out the window.

"I'm going home to my family," The man said conversationally. "Business trips are wearing me out."

Severus let his eyes wander to the review mirror, where he caught a glimpse of the passenger in the back, along with –

Horned rimmed glasses.

Silently gasping, Severus furrowed his brow. Was the man who possibly murdered his father coming back to kill him too?

"Snape, huh?" The man said interestedly. Severus's head snapped to the mirror again.

"I'm sorry?"

"Your name," Horned rimmed glasses said again. "On your license."

Severus looked at the license attached to his window.

"That's English, yes?" Severus furrowed his brow as his grip tightened on the steering wheel. "I once knew a Professor Snape. In England. Genesisit, with interesting theories. Don't think he's teaching anymore… but you wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"

Severus didn't say anything, but the man continued.

"Probably lot's of Snapes in England where you're from. Like Smith. Or Anderson."

Severus jerked the steering wheel left, a sickening screech filling his ears, as a man walking on the street jumped out of the way. With his heart thumping, Snape ran from the car as fast as he could.

He was sure that that was his father's murderer.

H E R M I O N E W E A S L E Y / G R A N G E R

Hermione walked into the dining room after helping with dinner, a tray of potatoes in her hands. Her brother Ron and her mother were ranting on about their cat – Crookshanks – even though it was mostly her mother.

She sat down silently, placing the potatoes in the middle of the table. Crookshanks was in her mother's lap again, purring quietly and sending hungry looks at the meat on Hermione's mother's plate.

"–and then she had the nerve to tell me that Crookshanks wasn't breed worthy!"

Mrs. Weasley smiled across the table. "Well," She said. "Enough about Crookshanks. What did everybody else do today?"

Ron spoke up immediately. "When I walked home from school today I saw a Mexican guy I thought was dead. Turns out he wasn't."

Hermione rolled her eyes at her food.

It was true that Hermione had been adopted by the Weasleys, even though she had never met her real parents before. Her parents had thought that getting a child would be impossible for them, even though after Hermione was adopted Ron was miraculously born.

"I thought Dad was coming home tomorrow." Ron asked.

"Well, I was going to surprise you. Turns out he's coming home tonight."

"Just in time to see my bad report card…"

"What about you, Hermione?" Mrs. Weasley asked warmly. "Do anything interesting today?"

Hermione looked seriously at the table for a second. "I walked through a fire and didn't get burned."

Silence.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean? God, you're so crazy sometimes." Ron said condescendingly.

"Ron," Mrs. Weasley warned. She turned to Hermione with a smile. "I think I know exactly what you mean."

Hermione raised her eyebrows.

"Oh, here I go talking cats again and you say something really profound," Mrs. Weasley said with a grin. "We come up with all kinds of fires in our lives, and when we test ourselves and face our fears, we usually don't get burned," She smiled satisfyingly. "You are very wise, sweetheart, and whatever it is you did, I'm proud of you! And so is Crookshanks! Yes he is, he's proud of Hermione!"

Hermione sighed. Perhaps the way she had said it didn't sound very literal… perhaps it came off a bit too theoretical.

S E A M U S F I N N I G A N AND D E A N T H O M A S

"Thanks." Dean said with a nod as he received their drinks, when he heard a loud female shrieking noise and whipped towards the scream. Police came out of nowhere, dragging out a flushed Seamus.

"No!" He shouted. "I'm not a peeping tom! Hold _on_!_ DEAN!_"

The police shoved him out of the pub, Dean following with a sigh.

Seamus picked himself up from the ground, brushing dirt off of his sleeve. "Did you see me?" He asked excitedly. "I was in the women's bathroom!"

"Great," Dean muttered. "Now you're a pervert."

"I teleported myself!!"

"Enough!" Dean interrupted loudly, shoving Seamus' shoulder. "You can't break the time and space continuum!"

Smile slipping off of his face, Seamus walked away. "Fine. Don't believe me."

Dean followed half-heartedly. "Seamus," He said. "There are twelve and half million people in this city. Not _one_ of them can bend time and space. Why do you want to be different?"

"Why do _you_ want to be the same?" Seamus snapped.

"Because that's what I am," Dean said. "The same."

"It's what we all are. Homogenous yogurt." Seamus explained.

"Yogurt?"

"You don't understand," Seamus said, looking downwards. "I want to be special."

"We're not special." Dean responded.

"Fine, stay here," Seamus dismissed with a wave of his hand. "Be just like everyone else. I want to go boldly where no man has gone before." He walked away slowly.

"Seamus," Dean said, but Seamus didn't turn around. "That's right, you're special!" He shouted after him sardonically. "You're Super Seamus!!"

But Seamus didn't pay any more attention.

S I R I U S B L A C K

"Cho?" Sirius called, entering the apartment with a jingle of keys. "Cho, are you there?"

"Sirius!" She shouted, utterly relieved as she stuck her head out of one of the doorways, hair flyaway and eyes fearful.

"I – what's wrong?"

Cho threw herself at the floor where there was a trunk against the wall. She rummaged through it, putting on her coat at the same time.

"What are you looking for?" Sirius asked, confused.

"Morphine." She mumbled worriedly, her hand shaking as she tucked wisps of hair behind her ear.

"What for?"

"You need to come with me someplace." Cho said.

"_Where_?"

"You'll see."

"Look – there's – there's something I need to tell you." Sirius said.

"Now that is going to have to wait." Cho dismissed, running frantically about the apartment.

"No – I really need to tell you about this. I mean – my whole life I've been following other people. I have no idea what I'm supposed to do, what I'm supposed to be, don't I have a destiny of my own–?!"

"I promise, we will talk about this later." Cho rambled breathlessly. "But right now I really need you to come with me. You're a nurse – you can give out a shot – you can help him."

"Help who?" Sirius asked with a furrowed brow.

H E R M I O N E W E A S L E Y / G R A N G E R

"I thought we could go to the movies," Mrs. Weasley said warmly to Hermione, walking into the kitchen. "On Saturday. Maybe try on some shoes at the new mall."

"Sure," Hermione replied, hands in the soapy sink where the dishes were swimming about. She grabbed the sponge, her mind clearly somewhere else. "I love you, Mum."

Mrs. Weasley grabbed two more plates off of the table and brought them onto the counter, her eyebrows raised. "But…?"

Hermione shook her head at the cup she was cleaning. "No buts. I just wanted to tell you."

Mrs. Weasley leant on the counter. "No, you think I'm trying to be your best friend again, admit it."

"No, no, we can go to the movies together. No big deal." She mumbled.

Mrs. Weasley sighed. "I just… miss you, I guess. I wanna be your mum. I wanna give you advice but not be pushed away."

"I do want advice, I do," She said, slipping her ring off of her finger. "I won't push you away, I promise." With a _clank_, the ring fell out of her grip and into the running garbage disposal. Hermione sighed, stuffing her hand in as the blade grinded below.

Drawing out a bloody hand, Hermione's eyes grew wide as she watched the skin start to form again. Hurriedly turning off the garbage disposal and turning around, she held her hands behind her back as Mrs. Weasley walked towards her.

Realizing that her mother was talking, she nodded along with a smile.

"–I guess I'm just not very interesting…"

Hermione shook her head earnestly, feeling her blood drip on the tile below her.

"You are interesting!" She retorted.

"No, not in the same way I wanted to be… I wanted to hitchhike across Europe, fall in love with some poetry quoting Frenchman! Well, my point is that you should know who you are – because who you are is special!"

Hermione looked down, swallowing. "About that," She murmured. "There's something I have to say. Something I never talked about because I thought it would upset you and Dad."

Mrs. Weasley smiled lovingly. "Sweetheart, you can say anything to us, you know that."

"I…" She rubbed the back of her neck with her hand. "I think I'm old enough to know who my real parents are."

Mrs. Weasley grinned sadly and drew Hermione into a hug. "Of course you are."

Hermione held up her earlier bloodied hand – which had healed perfectly, now only holding a small ring on her thumb that she had retrieved from the sink.

"I'm home!" A voice boomed, and Hermione smiled towards the door.

"Hey!" Mrs. Weasley greeted, nearing the door. "Honey."

Hermione sighed, running a hand through her hair, staring at the floor. Her head snapped towards the floor, where Crookshanks was licking up her blotched blood.

"Bad Crookshanks, no!" She scolded, kneeling down and ushering the cat away and smearing the blood away with the sole of her shoe.

Running to the door, Hermione smiled towards Mr. Weasley.

"Hi, Daddy!" She greeted, walking into his arms. And on Mr. Weasley's nose were…

Horned rimmed glasses.

S E A M U S F I N N I G AN

Seamus waited on the subway, leaning against the wall and slightly daydreaming as he stared at the tile in front of him. Yawning, he examined the subway, eyes falling upon a sign that showcased New York City… how much Seamus would love to be there right now. Lights and Time Square…

An idea popping into his brain, he smirked, squinting hard at the picture of New York. Eyebrows furrowed and cheeks wobbling he squinted hard. Harder. The entire train it seemed was shaking.

And then –

Eyes open, Seamus appeared in the middle of Times Square, his pupils wide as he took in his surroundings and turned unbelievingly at the sight.

"I DID IT! _I DID IT!_" He shouted, earning himself several looks from passerby, but smiling at all of them. Seamus hopped on the spot – already creating a story in his mind to feed to Dean – and feeling giddy all over.

Not knowing that he was six weeks ahead of present time.

S I R I U S B L A C K AND C H O C H A N G

Cho ushered Sirius over to Draco's apartment, rambling helplessly all the way.

"I'm just saying it sounds impossible, that's all, nobody can paint the future–" Sirius said defensively, reaching the dark alleyway to the loft.

"I saw it with my own eyes, Sirius," Cho said breathlessly, banging open the door with a jingle of keys. "Draco!" She yelled, groping for the light switch. The light was dead.

There was silence in the dark apartment. Only thin rays of light were silhouetting into the loft.

"I brought some help," Cho said loudly. "He's a nurse."

Sirius hated being called a _nurse_, but he felt that in this situation he wasn't going to correct Cho.

"Draco!" She yelled a little worriedly, walking into the dark depth of the apartment. "_Draco!_"

Sirius reached for his pocket, pulling out a flashlight and shining beams of light along the floor, when his beam hit a small shot.

_Drugs_. Sirius thought. _He must have shot up._

Cho kept on calling Draco's name, but Sirius' flashlight fell upon an unconscious form on the floor and his eyes widened.

"Cho!" He alerted, sprinting over to the figure and kneeling down beside him. He grabbed for his First Aid bag, while Cho ran over.

"Oh – oh my god." She muttered, on the verge of tears in her voice. She threw herself at Draco's feet frantically, shaking uncontrollably. She dove her hand into her purse, patting Draco's hair all the while.

Sirius listened for a heartbeat. "He's alright–" He said loudly to Cho. "Call nine one one."

Drawing out her phone, she dialed.

"What've you done?" Cho asked unbelievingly to Draco's unconscious form. "Oh god, he's overdosed."

Sirius felt a pulse, eyes distracted at the shadowed canvases all propped up on easels in the entire apartment. He furrowed his brow at some of them, standing up slowly and walked over to the paintings. Cho was still mumbling behind him halfway to the phone and halfway to the out cold Draco.

"Yes, hello??" Cho mumbled. "I need an ambulance here immediately!"

Sirius walked up closer to one of the pictures as Draco began to slowly stir.

"No, no, he's conscious – but only barely!" She said exasperatedly. "Get here soon, please!" Cho kept on patting Draco's cheek, Sirius kneeling down next to one of the paintings.

A picture of him jumping off of a building – flying – his jacket billowing behind him and his arms outstretched. And that outfit looked familiar –

Gasping, Sirius looked down to the exact same red sweatshirt and beige coat, his eyes growing wide.

"Oh my god." He breathed.

Cho was quietly sobbing as Draco stirred more, a painting covered arm moving.

"We have to stop it." Draco whispered, using all of his strength to mutter the words, his arm limply moving and his eyes closed.

Sirius turned around confusedly, barely hearing the warning, and gasping at the large picture on the floor, painted right on Draco's concrete floor.

A picture of New York going nuclear. A picture of New York exploding and blowing up with a bomb.

"We have to stop it…" Draco said again.

S I R I U S B L A C K

_This quest… this need to solve life's mysteries… in the end what does it matter if the human heart can only find meaning in the smallest of moments? They're here. Among us. In the shadows. In the light… everywhere. Do they even know yet?_

Sirius stood upon the same building in the painting, staring at the sky before him, waiting. It's not until the cab pulls up at the floor far, far down at the street below him, does he smile into the phone that his sweaty fingers are holding.

Remus leaves the cab, shoving money into the driver's hands.

"Alright, I'm here," Remus says into his phone rather irritably. He sees no one, and then confusedly turns around. "Sirius? _Sirius?_"

Next to Remus' feet comes a phone, crashing into smithereens next to him. Jumping, Remus stares upward, where Sirius is standing ruefully and looking downward at his brother.

"I've been up here all night!" He shouts. "Thinking about things! Thinking about my destiny!"

Remus puts his phone into his pocket, raising his eyes at the sky. "What are you doing, Sirius?"

"It's my turn to be somebody now, Remus!" Sirius screams down, his fists clenched determinedly.

"Come on, Sirius, quit screwing around!" Remus yells up, a little sternly and a little worriedly now.

Sirius didn't listen. He stared ahead, the wind billowing his jacket as he closed his eyes and slowly, gently leaning his head back towards the sun and the breeze. Sirius outstretched his arms. His brain is only pounding one thing repeatedly – _the painting_.

With a deep breath in, the sole of his shoes rock backwards and forwards a little on the rim of the roof. What was it? Thirty stories? Fifteen stories high? He didn't remember.

And in his moment of bravery, eyes still closed, Sirius extended a foot over the air as though he would be walking on it and leans forward, falling – flying – plummeting away from the safety of the roof.

First it's arms first, then it's head first as he falls faster. He doesn't dare open his eyes to see Remus' panicked expression.

He felt himself speeding up, he was halfway down at least – and he was no longer feeling the wind in between his arms. He wasn't flying. He was _falling_.

Sirius' eyes snapped open, only to see something swoop toward him, latching only his arms and keeping him from falling. Sirius gasped, his brain swimming as he tried to see straight, but he only catches a glimpse of flailing legs that aren't his own.

"REMUS!" Sirius yelled, their sweaty hands barely still attached. Remus reached out for Sirius, pulling him up higher tightly.

They were falling faster than they should be.

"SIRIUS!!" Remus shouted, grasping onto his brother for dear life.

"You're flying, Remus! You're flying!" Sirius said unbelievingly. "How did you–"

"I don't know." Remus croaked immediately, his face pale.

Sirius was slipping from his grasp again. Grimacing as his brother tried to pull him up, their cheeks touched for a second before Sirius fell – shouting – and Remus' hand still outstretched after him.

"NO!"

_AN_: JuliaKerns5: Hey guys!!! Julia here :D

HermioneGranger47393: Hullo:P

HelplessRomantic: Whoever's reading this, you are awesome. :D

IdOnTwAnTyOuToSeEmEcRy: Hi

MisbehavingBubbles: What's up? Hope you enjoyed 'Genesis'!

LadyPurple: Heyyy, make sure to review!!

ReachIntoTheSky: Hey guys!

XAdorkablexXxHotshotX: HEYYY this is LEMON LIME!! W00T.

HelplessRomantic: Soo… what did you think of the first chapter??

ReachIntoTheSky: _Heroes_ rules. RULES.

XAdorkablexXxHotshotX: Uh-huh. :D

HermioneGranger47393: Speaking of _Heroes_, you don't need to watch the show to understand this.

MisbehavingBubbles: Also, none of us own _Heroes_. The plot is based off of the show, and so are the abilities of the characters. The characters are _Harry Potter_ characters. Don't sue us. :D

LadyPurple: If some of you are wondering why Sirius and Remus have different last names if they're brothers, one of the reasons is –

IdOnTwAnTyOuToSeEmEcRy: That Sirius Lupin or Remus Black sounds bloody WEIRD.

LadyPurple: That wasn't what I was going to say. In the show, the person who represents Remus (Nathan Petrelli) is married. So let's say that the women chose the last name this time.

HermioneGranger47393: You think that sounds weird? That's how it is in our family!!! _–pointed stare—_

JuliaKerns5: I love _Heroes_. And the pairings that will be here, they're WEIRD. Ignore them if they're not your thing, which they're probably not.

HelplessRomantic: There's RL/SB tension. Brotherly tension, and if you see the show you KNOW what I mean.

XAdorkablexXxHotshotX: Since Seamus is Hiro and Tonks is Charlie, there will be a little bit of Seamus/Tonks. XD I know

ReachIntoTheSky: And we didn't PLAN this, but there will be some obvious Seamus/Dean.

IdOnTwAnTyOuToSeEmEcRy: And… sorry, but I wasn't a big Simone fan when I watched the show. I was _REALLY_ glad at the end of Unexpected. Saw-RY if you were a big Simone Fan. Well, according to show canon, there's a bit of Draco/Cho and Sirius/Cho. I know. Ew.

JuliaKerns5: Speaking of natural selection, Cedric – who will be Matt – and his wife Hannah – or Janice – will be a small ship. More 'ewws' but OH WELL.

HermioneGranger47393: And some obvious Lily/James in the DL/Niki area. :D

HelplessRomantic: No Mohinder/Sylar in this. Sorry, but if you thought that 'and it's going to hurt' was a big 'shippy' scene than you are a little desperate. And I doubt that most of you normal people out there don't ship Snape/Voldy. Hopefully.

LadyPurple: So instead there will be that one point where Mohinder is planning on scattering his father's ashes and returning to India, and then Eden and him kiss. I know that this is disgusting, but there will be some unwanted Ginny/Snape in here. XD

XAdorkablexXxHotshotX: Review please. Sorry to say, but there will be slow updates… very slow.

ReachIntoTheSky: It's only rated M/R because of the death and murdering. And implying things, too. But if you're mature, you should be able to handle it. Nothing graphic.

JuliaKerns5: We dedicate this story to three of the best authors in the world. _PeterPetrelliIsMyHero_, and _SaveTheWatchmaker_, and lastly _SerialKisserSylar_. They are awesome and love Heroes as much as we do. :D

HermioneGranger47393: Remember to message us! All of us… don't forget the rest of us, since we all can't post it. Message me. Message all of us. We love talking to you people.

HelplessRomantic: And we'll reply to every single review you send.

MisbehavingBubbles: Definitely. By all of us. So expect different people for different replies. :D Not only Julia, who will be posting this.

LadyPurple: So make sure to review!! We love all of you!

HermioneGranger47393: Auf Wiedersehen!

HelplessRomantic: Au Revoir!

IdOnTwAnTyOuToSeEmEcRy: Arrivederci!

ReachIntoTheSky: Adios!

XAdorkablexXxHotshotX: Jusqu'à la fois prochaine

MisbehavingBubbles: Sicherstellen zu wiederholen!

LadyPurple: Li amiamo tutti!! Baci ed abbracci.

JuliaKerns5: Lieblinge und Alarme geschätzt. Die ganze von, von fangirls oder von fanboys lieben! Von Julia lieben.

HelplessRomantic: Decirnos si entiendes cualesquiera de nuestros ramblings… ¡En alemán, francés, italiano, y español¡Si revisión, tú puede ser que estés en suerte y el HelplessRomantic famoso pudo contestarte!

ReachIntoTheSky: Make sure to check translation websites so you know what the hell we've been saying:D


	2. Don't Look Back

Chapter 2:_ Don't Look Back_

_We all imagine ourselves the agents of our destiny, capable of determining our own fate. But have we truly any choice in when we rise or when we fall? Or does a force larger than ourselves bid us our direction? Is it evolution that takes us by the hand? Does science point our way? Or is it God who intervenes, keeping us safe?_

And in his moment of bravery, eyes still closed, Sirius extended a foot over the air as though he would be walking on it and leans forward, falling – flying – plummeting away from the safety of the roof.

First it's arms first, then it's head first as he falls faster. He doesn't dare open his eyes to see Remus' panicked expression.

He felt himself speeding up, he was halfway down at least – and he was no longer feeling the wind in between his arms. He wasn't flying. He was _falling_.

Sirius' eyes snapped open, only to see something swoop toward him, latching only his arms and keeping him from falling. Sirius gasped, his brain swimming as he tried to see straight, but he only catches a glimpse of flailing legs that aren't his own.

"REMUS!" Sirius yelled, their sweaty hands barely still attached. Remus reached out for Sirius, pulling him up higher tightly.

They were falling faster than they should be.

"SIRIUS!!" Remus shouted, grasping onto his brother for dear life.

"You're flying, Remus! You're flying!" Sirius said unbelievingly. "How did you–"

"I don't know." Remus croaked immediately, his face pale.

Sirius was slipping from his grasp again. Grimacing as his brother tried to pull him up, their cheeks touched for a second before Sirius fell – shouting – and Remus' hand still outstretched after him.

"NO!"

Sirius' eyes snapped open as his gaze fell upon sheets – and Remus staring at him intently.

"Woah, woah, easy there, Sirius." He whispered, his hand on his shoulder firmly. Sirius eyed the hospital bed he was in suspiciously.

"What happened?" He breathed.

Remus leaned back curiously. "You don't remember?"

Sirius closed his eyes in trying to grasp at his memories, but then shook his head.

"You jumped, Sirius."

Sirius looked disbelievingly at his brother, eyebrows furrowed with the last energy he could muster. "No… jumped? I didn't jump–" Sirius said firmly, trying to get up, but Remus held him down again.

"Off of a fifteen story building," Remus looked downwards at his shoes gravely. "You tried to kill yourself."

Sirius's head snapped upwards. "What – What are you talking about, I didn't try to kill myself–" His eyes widened. "You were in the alley below. I jumped… and you… you flew." Sirius looked up at Remus, smiling ever so softly.

Remus laughed awkwardly, a hand reaching up to his neck. "I _what_?"

"You flew and you caught me."

Remus shook his head. "You jumped, Sirius. Twenty-five feet to a fire escape. I climbed up and carried you down, that's what happened."

Sirius shook his head.

"Please, Sirius," Remus muttered. "Do you really think that people can _fly_? And if we would have flown – why would you be here in a hospital instead of running about healthy and well?"

Sirius shook his head faster. "You caught me and I fell from your hand."

Remus smiled and laid a hand on his brother's shoulder. "No, Sirius," He told him. "You jumped and you fell. The rest is crazy talk."

Remus gave his brother a stern look. "You get it?"

H E R M I O N E W E A S L E Y / G R A N G E R

Train Derails – Explodes was the headline for the newspaper the next morning, Hermione scrutinizing it closely. 

_Man trapped inside train car is mysteriously saved and rescued_.

Hermione bit on her lip, staring hard at the article as it lay innocently on the table, slightly wrinkled.

"Dad?" She muttered. "Do you mind if I talk to you about something?"

She heard Mr. Weasley putting down his pan full of eggs and walk over to Hermione. He grabbed the orange juice pitcher on the counter and poured some into his glass.

"You pregnant?" He asked gruffly.

"What? No." Hermione dismissed.

"On drugs?"

"Dad." She said seriously.

"Actually," Mr. Weasley said, taking a swig of juice before returning to his eggs. "I already know what it's about."

"You do?" Hermione asked surprisingly.

"It's about wanting to know who you really are. Your mother told me that you've been asking about your birth parents."

"Well…" She blushed slightly. "I think that it's time that I knew."

"I have a few questions first, not the least of which is _why now_?" Mr. Weasley asked.

"I'm just wondering, that's all," Hermione said right away. "You know, what they're like, what they can do…"

He looked up from the stove. "What they can do?"

"Yeah. Like hobbies and… skills."

Mr. Weasley looked at Hermione closely. "You know, I don't mean this to be condescending, even though you're going to say that I'm being condescending – but I believe that this is an adult decision."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "You're right, that _is_ condescending."

"Hermione, there are going to be issues. You're gonna have issues, they're gonna have issues. It's very… complex emotionally."

"Yeah, well, so am I!" She defended reasonably.

"Exactly," He held out the plate of eggs to her, which she took slowly. "Look, here's my advice if you'll indulge me. Just keep things light and fun as long as you can… like cheerleading."

"I never wanted to cheerlead." Hermione mumbled gruffly, nibbling at her eggs.

"Are you saying that cheerleading isn't light and fun?"

"I'm saying that cheerleading is hard work."

"Of course it is." Mr. Weasley said with a smile, patting Hermione on the back.

"I should eat."

"Hey," He said, grabbing her shoulders and kissing her on the cheek. "I just don't want you to be in such a hurry to grow up, okay? Trust me. I actually know a few things."

With a reluctant smile, Hermione walked towards the breakfast table with her eggs.

Mr. Weasley turned his head when his daughter was out of sight, and he eyed the newspaper.

_Train Derails – Explodes – Man trapped inside train car is mysteriously saved and rescued_…

S E V E R U S S N A P E

Severus returned in the evening after his taxi-driving-duties, his bag slumped over his shoulder. Depositing his keys and the bag on the end table, he took off his jacket in the dark apartment, when he was surprised to see a figure crouching underneath his desk in the study room.

He gasped, and his fingers automatically went for the dictionary he carried on his shelf. Grasping the cover firmly in his grasp, he silently advanced onto the figure, who all of a sudden crawled out from the desk.

"Who are you?!" Severus demanded, his dictionary still raised in his hands threateningly.

"Whoa, whoa, sorry – sorry," The man stood up. "Easy. Your super let us in – we're doing the whole building today. I just got done with the lady with the dog and the cough – listen, it seems as though some cockroaches may have infested your floorboards…"

But Severus hadn't lowered the dictionary, as his eyes fell upon a gun sitting underneath the desk on the carpet that he nor his father had certainly not put there. The man noticed that Severus was still 'on guard' with his piece of literature, and smirked.

Out of nowhere the man tried to swipe at Severus with his bucket of 'equipment', but Snape ducked and kicked the man in his stomach, who cowered on the floor in pain.

"Who are you?!" Severus demanded. "What did you do to my father?"

The man, having regained his strength, kicked his foot upwards and sent Severus flying across the room onto the floor. Grabbing his gun, he stood above of Snape.

"Let's take a little breather, huh, Professor?"

"Looks like the cockroaches are the least of my problems." Severus muttered breathlessly on the floor.

"Seems so."

"Did you kill my father?" Snape asked loudly.

"I think we're done here, don't you?" The man said, grabbing his bag of things and walking out of the apartment with his gun still poised at Severus.

But Snape charged up and lunged at the man when he reached the hallway, clinging onto his back forcefully as a lady collided into both of them. Snape barely had time to see who she was as she crashed onto the floor and grabbed the man's gun. Severus slipped off of the man's back defensively, holding up his hands.

"Hey look, I'm just the exterminator, then this guy came in and pulled a gun on me." The man defended.

"He is _not_ an exterminator!" Severus interrupted loudly, pointing at the man accusingly.

"He's paranoid. I was just in there spraying bugs in his apartment and he came in and freaked out."

The lady holding the gun finally spoke, brushing her long red hair out of her face. "If you're an exterminator, then why do you have a gun holster?"

Severus eyed the man. His jacket had fallen off, showing a black gun holster over his shirt. The man looked up from his attire nervously, before shoving Snape into the lady and running, the gun skidding out of both of their reaches.

Snape was almost lying on top of the stranger, and he snapped up almost instantly, still holding his hands up. The lady grabbed the gun again, smiling at Severus.

"Thank you for coming to my rescue."

"You're welcome." She responded awkwardly.

"Severus Snape." He greeted, holding out a hand.

"I'm Ginny, Severus–" Ginny stopped all of a sudden, her eyebrows knitted together. "The – the Professor's son?"

S E A M U S F I N N I G A N

_Not knowing that he was six weeks in the future_.

"Hallo, New York!! Hullo, Sir – Ma'am!! Good day to you! I LOVE NEW YORK!" Seamus screamed loudly, addressing almost every other person he saw on the sidewalk.

He was just passing by a magazine stand, when caught his eye – a certain picture – a familiar image, that seemed almost a little creepy.

Turning around towards the stand, Seamus scanned one particular magazine.

On the front, was someone who looked awfully like him, with outstretched arms, and shouting 'I DID IT' in the middle of Times Square.

"That's me." He whispered, picking up the magazine.

_9__th__ Wonders – Seamus Arrives In New York!_

He gasped, his eyes round, as he flipped the first page. That had been just yesterday – only two days ago – these were his memories – his past –

Seamus barely got to page two when the man behind the counter snarled something out.

"Hey! Pal! This isn't a library!"

Seamus looked up quizzically.

"No pay, no read."

Seamus first didn't understand what the man was talking about, but then grinned slightly, chuckling, drawing out the money in his pants.

They were English Pounds.

Thinking hurriedly in his mind, he shoved over a Pound and ran from the magazine stand, the man behind it shouting after him the moment he recognized the money that had been pushed into his hand.

Seamus then ran from the counter, falling into people as he madly dashed as far away as he could, until he stopped at a nearby shop breathlessly, panting, as he made his way inside.

Flipping the magazine and feeling his insides do a funny jitter, Seamus was reading his past.

Seamus squinting in the office at his clock, the clock stopping and Seamus running to tell Dean – that night in the bar when Dean didn't believe that he could teleport or stop time – "That's right, you're special! You're Super Seamus!!" – it was all written in the magazine, word for word, picture by picture.

Frantically skipping to the last page of the comic where the author was pictured and mentioned proudly, his heart skipped a beat.

_Written and drawn by Draco Malfoy_

_New York_

Along with Mr. Draco's address and information about himself, the page showed a picture of him too.

"I have to visit him." Seamus mumbled aloud.

D R A C O M A L F O Y (b a c k i n t h e p r e s e n t)

Draco lay on his bed, Cho mopping his brow and muttering her concerns in low tones. He didn't want to lie down. He remembered last night as vividly as ever – the bomb. The bomb that would blow up New York.

"–you had a really hard night." Cho finished with a sigh.

"I saw it," Draco said instantly, pointing faintly towards the painting drawn on his floor. "There… there was a bright light. Like an explosion. It wiped out the whole city–"

Cho shushed him, brushing the damp towel over his forehead.

"Shh, shh, it was all a dream." She muttered firmly.

"No. I don't think so," He pushed her hand and the towel away, his eyes alert. "I shot up last night. I had to."

"It wasn't real." Cho persuaded confidently, advancing with the towel again.

"I painted what I saw!" Draco said exasperatedly, sitting up and staring hard at the painting. "There! Do you see it?"

"Yes, I see it!" She said loudly, shushing him more. "But you need to rest."

Draco shoved her off entirely, standing up from the bed and leaving her sitting on the sheets with the cloth.

"We have to warn them!"

She pulled him down onto the sheets, her grasp firm around his wrist. "Draco, you can't paint the future. Nobody will believe you."

Draco stared at her. "I hoped you would."

"None of it is real!" Cho said, smoothing back his hair. "What is real is that you have a drug problem! You overdosed last night. You're lucky to be alive."

He shook his head.

"You know, I'm watching my father die," Cho muttered. "I can't watch you die too. So you need to make a choice. Me – or this."

H E R M I O N E W E A S L E Y / G R A N G E R

Neville sprang hurriedly to his locker, throwing almost everything apart, watching Hermione talk to Blaise Zabini at the locker nearby, Lavender watching enviously and trying to join in on the conversation.

Somewhere in-between the rustle of his scouring, he heard the words:

"–most guys have rough hands, not mine–" Blaise's voice said.

"–really–?" Hermione's voice responded.

"–see, look how soft they are–"

"–wow–"

"–my, you've got dainty hands–"

"–my mum says that I've got… _very_ dainty hands–" Another voice cut in, obviously Lavender's.

Neville frustratingly slammed his locker shut, rushing over to Hermione and pulling on her arm.

"Hey, Hermione, can I borrow you for a second?"

Hermione tried to free herself from his grasp. "Not now!"

"This is really urgent, Hermione–"

"Not _now_." She grumbled, pulling herself away from Neville and back to Blaise.

But they didn't have much chance to continue their conversation as the principal strode over to them.

"Hermione – Lavender. The sheriff and some firemen would like to have a word with you two."

Quizzically, Hermione followed the principal, Lavender close behind.

L I L Y E V A N S

_Lily ran_.

Lily hurriedly entered her car, which shook when she closed the door, and immediately reached for her purse. She groped for her phone, and then immediately started the car. It grumbled as it started.

"Harry, honey, I'm so sorry." Lily said into the phone, her hands shaking violently as she steered. "I'll be there soon – I'm only five minutes away. Okay? I love you." Hanging up the call, Lily drove on, when her eyes fell upon the camera in the passenger seat.

_Maybe it recorded what had happened._ She thought desperately, pulling the car over to the side of the road.

Lily eyed camera as though she didn't know if she even wanted to see it anyway. Those thugs had been torn apart when she had woken up… she wasn't really into goriness.

But her fingers clasped around the camera as she rewound it, staring at the screen.

On the camera was her stripping in front of the thugs. Lily bit her lip as she watched.

"What's the matter, baby?" One of the thugs asked, as camera-Lily seemed to look away dazedly.

_The mirror_. She remembered.

The thug slapped her across the face and she fell backwards onto the bed with an 'oof'.

"Screw you." Camera-Lily said venomously.

"Screw me?" And Lily watched herself being punched in the face.

The camera started rustling uncontrollably, and only screams of pain and ripping filled the recording now. Lily wished that the gray screen would go away so she would have even a glimpse of who the hell had murdered those two men.

It hadn't been _her_, that was for sure.

Or was it?

Lily suddenly found herself sitting in the middle of her car in the middle of a parking lot, her clothing changed, and instead of a camera in her hands, it was a cellphone.

"What the hell happened here…?" She asked confusedly, her hands shaking as she looked at her different attire.

She just suddenly realized that her cellphone was ringing, but she didn't bother picking it up. She peered out of the window – a parking lot.

Lily opened the door, standing up and staring at the parking lot in confusion. Her hands were trembling. She closed her eyes tightly for a second, but when she opened them it was still the same.

Finally deciding to answer the phone clutched in her hold, she flipped it open.

"Hello?" She murmured into the speaker hesitantly.

"Mum?" Lily heard Harry say. "Where have you been, I called you like four hours ago."

"What?" Lily breathed into the phone, still staring worriedly at her surroundings. "Four hours?"

"Yeah."

"I – I'll be right there, Harry." She hung up on the phone, slamming the door to the car as she entered it. Burying her face in her hands, she heaved a deep breath, but nothing around her had changed.

---

Lily arrived at Marlene's house soon, ignoring Marlene's cries of "what is the matter with you, making Harry wait like that?!" as she ran forward to Harry and hugged him tightly.

"I'm so sorry," She mumbled to Harry. "Why don't you wait in the car?"

Marlene faced her straightaway the moment Harry scampered out of earshot into the car. "What the hell is going on, Lily?"

"Something terrible has happened." Lily breathed, biting on her lip.

Marlene shook her head with a sigh. "What is it?"

"You know those guys you said Dumbledore might send after me?"

"Yeah…?"

"Well, he did," She said quietly. "And now they're dead. On the floor of my garage."

"What?" Marlene asked sharply. "How?"

"That's just it. I don't know."

"What do you mean, you don't know?"

"I mean I don't know!" Lily cried, stifling back a sob. "They came, and I passed out, and when I woke up, they were dead. And I think that I might have–" She stopped herself.

"Nonsense, Lily."

"Sometimes," Lily said. "I look in the mirror. And I'm not sure that it's me that I'm seeing."

Marlene ignored that bit. "Maybe it was James! Maybe he was trying to protect you, because he still loves you and Harry–"

"James wouldn't risk coming back, the cops are after him," Lily said immediately. "But if Dumbledore finds out that they're dead… he's gonna think that I killed him. And then he's going to come after me."

"Then listen to me! You have to call the police!"

Lily shook her head. "No. I…" She saw Harry staring at her from the car window. "I have to cover my tracks, and then I have to run." She left Marlene standing on the porch, running towards the car.

S E V E R U S S N A P E

Severus leant under the desk; fiddling around with whatever evidence the man may have left behind in the dark apartment. Ginny knelt down next to him.

"Why would anyone want to tap Papa Snape's phone?"

Severus looked up confusedly, eyebrows both furrowed and raised. "_Papa_ Snape?"

Ginny smiled. "Yeah. He told me to call him that after I butchered his name a couple of times."

Severus sighed, standing up. "I don't know why someone would want to tap his phone," He examined something small in his hand. "First I find a man with a gun in here, possibly stealing his research, and now this?" He showed Ginny the object.

"A… a bullet?" She stood up as well. "Well, why don't you just ask your dad, he must have some sort of idea of who it is."

Severus looked shockingly at Ginny. "My father died four days ago."

"W…What?" Ginny asked incredulously, sinking down onto the couch.

"I – I'm sorry. You didn't know?" He took a seat next to her. "He was murdered. In his cab."

"Oh my god, how awful." She breathed.

"You were close?"

"I… yeah. I always hated cooking for one so I used to make extra and brought it down to him… and we'd chat and he'd tell me about his theories and his map…" She looked up thoughtfully. "We were friends."

"Well," Severus said uncomfortably. "Then you were closer to him than I was. Happy to hear that he had someone to talk to," He stood up. "I'll get you some water."

Ginny followed Severus into the kitchen. "I had no idea that anything was wrong, I just… I knocked on the door a couple of times and I thought he was out…"

"That was…" Severus handed a glass to her. "…very thoughtful of you."

"You know, he told me that he was being watched," Ginny looked down. "I thought that he was just being eccentric."

"I like that you didn't use the word paranoid." Snape said with a grin that Ginny didn't return.

"Do you think that they're watching you now?"

Snape sighed and looked at the floor. "They could have killed me, if that's what they wanted. But obviously I'm more important to them alive."

"For the time being," Ginny said seriously. "Be careful, Severus."

Snape ignored her. "You said that he talked to you about his theories. I need you to tell me everything he told you, everything that you remember. _Everything_."

H E R M I O N E W E A S L E Y / G R A N G E R

Hermione was standing in a line near the bleachers outside awkwardly, stealing glances to the murmuring fireman, policeman, and the principal. Stiffly, she waited for some of the girls next to her to make a comment.

The policeman approached the line of cheerleaders, his eyebrows raised and his hands on his hips. Hermione stared straight ahead without a twitch.

"Girls," He addressed gruffly. "There's been a criminal investigation. And no, nobody here is in any kind of trouble… quite the contrary. In fact, there seems to be a very grateful man lying the hospital right now, who'd like to thank one of you for saving his life yesterday."

Silence.

The principal smiled. "I've never seen anyone so reluctant to be called a hero," He said. "Are you sure that it was one of our cheerleaders?"

"Uniform was labeled after your school," The policeman said. He scrutinized all of the girls. "I'd have to say that it was… that one. On the end, there."

Hermione felt Lavender's disbelieving eyes fall upon her. She didn't say anything.

"Hermione," The Principal said. "Where did you go yesterday after cheerleading practice?"

Hermione was silent for a few moments. She was about to open her mouth, when Lavender took a step forward from the line.

"It wasn't her," Lavender said. "It was me." She said, nodding solemnly.

Hermione stared open-mouthed at Lavender.

"I was taking a shortcut home from school, and I saw the wreck of the train… and I just had to help, you know?" She walked slowly towards the policeman and the principal.

"Why didn't you say something?"

Lavender was speechless for a moment. "I… I guess I just didn't want the attention, you know? It's… it's not why I did it."

The principal stared at her closely, but the policeman stepped forward instantly. "Well, on the behalf of the fire department, I'd like to congratulate you as an honorary firefighter!"

Lavender squealed, beaming, as the rest of the cheerleaders cheered loudly, jumping up and down and running up to Lavender.

"Way to go, Lav!" Parvati shouted loudly. Hermione ignored her, walking up carefully to the policeman.

"How is he?" She asked quietly.

"Who?" The man responded perplexedly.

"The man… Lavender pulled out of the train car." Hermione stumbled slightly with her words.

"He's got some pretty bad burns… and smoke damage to his lungs, but he's alive. And happy to be so."

Hermione smiled, nodding. "Thanks to Lavender."

The policeman nodded gravely back.

---

Neville couldn't get a word in as Hermione raved on about Lavender while they were walking across the football field. Dodging a ball by ducking, Hermione kept on walking furiously fast.

"Did you hear that they asked Lavender to stand on top of the fire truck? They should put her _under_ the fire truck." She growled, stomping on the grassy field as she walked along. Neville grabbed her arm.

"I need to tell you something, it's about the videotape!" He shouted.

"What?" Hermione snapped waspishly.

"The videotape! The tape where you're like killing yourself twenty times!"

"Oh, that," She recalled depressingly. "Can't we just keep that private, okay?"

"That's what I'm trying to tell you, it was in my backpack, and know it's not." Neville said, grasping for her arm again as she picked up her pace.

"What?" Hermione shrieked, whirling around in a tornado of curly brown hair flying everywhere.

"I… it's gone." Neville said in a small voice.

"What do you mean, it's gone??" She shouted, and Neville was about to reply, when Hermione screamed as a football player accidentally rammed into her, successfully tackling her and throwing her to the ground.

There was loud whistling and shouting from the other players as Hermione, her head on backwards, easily snapped it back into place, slowly getting up.

The football player who had tackled her, Blaise, was wide-eyed as he helped Hermione up.

"Oh my god! _Hermione!_ I'm so sorry, are you alright?"

She nodded carefully, getting up. "Yeah, I – I'm fine. I'm alright – you just caught me off guard."

The football players were all hastily surrounding Hermione worriedly.

"I thought I heard something snap!" Blaise persisted.

"No really, I'm fine… I'm okay!!" She shouted out to the gathering players. "I'm fine!" A lot of relieved sighs were heard. Neville watched horrifyingly as he ran towards Hermione as well, resisting the urge to push Blaise out of the way.

"I guess you're not so dainty after all…" Blaise said with a crooked smile. Neville rolled his eyes as he finally jogged up by Hermione's side.

"I'm dainty enough." She said, and then Blaise took off again.

Neville turned to Hermione again, but she obviously wasn't going to talk about the tape again soon. "We have _got_ to find that tape." She muttered in a low voice, before sprinting hurriedly off of the field.

L I L Y E V A N S AND H A R R Y E V A N S

Lily drove the car into the driveway hastily with a grumble from the engine. She slammed the car door as she got out.

"I don't wanna go on vacation." Harry protested.

"You don't have a choice." Lily said somewhat shakily, locking the car.

Harry stopped walking. "Why are we doing this, Mum? Why won't you just tell me what's going on?"

Lily looked down at her son sadly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "I wish I could, Harry. But you are just going to have to trust me, okay? Now go inside and pack up some stuff while I take care of something in the garage." She kissed his forehead quickly.

Harry stepped up the porch moodily, before opening the front door and then gasping.

"Mum? What happened to our house?" He asked.

For a moment Lily panicked. "Harry, you are just going to have to trust me, okay?" She said firmly. Harry vanished inside.

The moment the door closed again, Lily ran over to the garage, about to open the lock. She looked around to see if anybody was looking, but then soon opened the door and braced herself with closed eyes.

But when she finally did open them, she was surprised.

Everything was cleaned up. The clothes, the wardrobe, the bed and the camera, the two dead men – everything was tidy and clean, a key hanging from a rope in the middle of the room.

_When could I have done this?_ Lily murmured in her mind, and her brain immediately snapped to the thought of getting out of her car in clothes she didn't recognize, four hours later, in a parking lot –

_But I don't remember this_.

She forgot her notions for a moment as her eyes fell upon the key. Walking carefully toward it, she unhooked it from the rope. It was a car key.

Whirling around, Lily's suspicions had been confirmed. Standing innocently on the side of the road, was a red convertible.

A familiar car.

It had been her sister's-to-be inheritance.

_Who found this?_ She thought, thousands of questions swimming and dissolving around her brain.

Lily closed the garage door again, running towards the car to examine it. She let her hand glide along the sleek paint…

Hopping into the front seat, Lily put the key in hesitantly. She eyed most of the car, until her eyes fell upon the ajar glove compartment.

Not thinking, she opened it, to find a small sticky note attached to the wall of the compartment.

_In The Trunk. Follow The Map._

Again, Lily studied the note before automatically walking over to the trunk and unlocking it. It sprung open.

Gasping – or more or less hyperventilating – Lily shut her eyes as her gaze caught a glimpse of the dead men in the trunk of her car, a map lying innocently on top of them and stained slightly with their blood.

She groped for the map and closed the trunk again, running back to the front seat traumatizingly.

S I R I U S B L A C K

Sirius was still in his hospital bed, staring idly at the small piece of paper before him as he drew randomly what came into his mind… two stick figures on a rooftop. One of them was wearing a tie, and the other one was hovering in midair… how curious. Sirius didn't even know why he was drawing such nonsense, but it seemed as though his pencil was attached to what his mind told him to draw.

There was a knock on the wall of his hospital cubicle, and Sirius looked up to see his mother smiling at him. He motioned her in weakly, grinning back at her half-heartedly.

She stared at him for a moment, before taking a seat on the corner of his bed with a sigh.

"Help me understand what you were doing jumping off of that roof."

Sirius paused. "I… I can't. Not yet. But I will." He promised.

His mother took a deep sigh. "There… there is something that you need to know about your father's death," She looked at him severely. "He committed suicide.

"_What?_" Sirius asked incredulously.

"He committed suicide," His mother repeated stonily. "I found him on the floor of the bathroom."

"I thought you said that he had a heart attack." Sirius reminded.

"I lied. For his reputation, his heart was fine."

"But he had two others before that one."

"Well, I lied about those too! Suicide attempts. Both of them. He finally got what he wanted," His mother said darkly. "When he… when he was twenty-three, he was diagnosed with major depressive disorder. He couldn't help it."

"Why didn't I know about any of this before?" Sirius demanded lividly.

"I decided not to tell you, since the disorder has a genetic link and you were always so… well, we just didn't want you to worry."

"Why are you telling me this _now_?"

His mother heaved a deep sigh, sternly looking ahead. "It can start with illusions of grandeur. Thoughts that make you think that you are invincible. Irrational thoughts, that then turn suicidal."

Sirius finally knew where this conversation was heading. He was not suffering from depression. He didn't jump off of that roof because he wanted to kill himself. Remus had got to their mother first and simply shared his story of Sirius trying to kill himself.

He shook his head determinedly. "No…"

"It's time you took a hard look at your life. And if there are changes that have to be made, I want to be there to help you."

She left.

S E A M U S F I N N I G AN ( b a c k i n t h e f u t u r e )

Seamus rang the bell to Mr. Malfoy's apartment, still eyeing the comic book as to make sure that he had gotten the right address. When there was no response, Seamus peered inside. Nothing…

He knocked on the door instead, and it creaked open without anyone answering it. Shakily staring inside the dark apartment, Seamus took a step into it. "Uh… Draco Malfoy?" He said loudly. No reply.

With a quick glance, Seamus saw paintings everywhere… did they all tell the stories of a random individual's future, like Seamus and the comic book?

"Heelllooo… Mr. Draco?" He stepped cautiously into the loft.

Finally, his curiosity got the better of his courtesy and he walked further into the flat, examining each one of the paintings interestedly.

Going past each of them carefully, Seamus' eyes fell upon an easel with a magazine in-the-making, one-third of the way done with Seamus' face on the panels.

Slowly, the gloom and the darkness and the silence started frightening Seamus. He took a small step forward. "Mr. Draco?" He asked in a quiet voice.

Staring at the floor cautiously, he stopped when he saw a trickle of blood, leading to a larger stream of blood, leading to more blood… more blood. Seamus followed it against his protesting mind and his better judgment.

A gun.

A gun lying next to the growing stream of blood. Seamus picked it up. At least now he was protected.

Holding the weapon securely in his hands, Seamus had lost the feeling in his legs as he walked forward. "Mr. Draco??" He asked very silently, almost hopefully. The blood was in a large pool of a river now… where was it leading to? Seamus followed it helplessly.

And then, the blood was in a massive amount. More than massive. And it surrounded –

Seamus gasped, his voice plummeting down his throat.

Malfoy lay dead on the floor, blood around him everywhere, his arms and legs pinned to the ground with paintbrushes, his eyes closed and his mouth open and dripping with blood. The top of his skull had been sawed off. The brain was gone. His head was dripping with blood, and very hollow.

Suddenly a parade of footsteps entered the apartment, and Seamus looked up frightfully to a pack full of policemen.

The main police guy eyed Seamus' shocked face, and then down to his hands, who still carried the gun.

"Drop your weapon!" He warned. More police burst through the doors.

"We found the killer!" Another one said loudly.

"Get your damn hands up!"

The gun slipped through his nimble and sweaty fingers, Seamus lifted his hands in fright.

And with one last look at the mutated painter, he fainted.

C E D R I C D I G G O R Y

"A serial killer strikes in the middle of Los Angeles and abducts a little girl. And here I am, standing a hundred feet away. Might as well be in Siberia." Cedric said dryly, moving his hand lazily in motion as more cars passed the house.

As a police officer, Cedric was only here to direct traffic.

A car pulls up to the scene and Justin Finch-Fletchley sidles up besides him.

"What do you think? C.I.A. or F.B.I.?" He mumbles as two ladies step out of the car.

"They're dressed too nicely for F.B.I." Cedric brushes off, watching the two ladies enter the house.

Justin gave Cedric a hard look. "The test results were posted this morning."

Cedric flushed, looking at the ground shamefacedly.

"Don't worry about it, man. Not everybody's a test taker." Justin clapped Cedric on the shoulder.

He looked up, still flushing, biting his lip.

All of sudden, Cedric heard something – a female voice, blocking out everything else. He knew that Justin was still talking to him but he was hearing something – a desperate voice that was pleading for help… finally a clear sentence that wasn't illegible popped clearly into Cedric's head.

_Please don't hurt me_…_ please don't hurt me_.

Justin was still talking, but Cedric still wasn't listening, as the voice repeated murmuring. Furrowing his brows, he turned to the house to see where the voice was coming from.

"Cedric?? You alright?" Justin called after him, but Cedric was then charging into the house.

_Please… please, please don't hurt me…_

He weaved in between a few policemen by the door, but not before examining each of them to make sure that it wasn't their voice talking loudly in Cedric's ears. He entered the house carefully, with snapping of cameras immediately adding to the parade of sounds. People were murmuring, a few were even crying, as Cedric eye's fell upon the murdered Mother, pinned to the staircase railing and stabbed with knives and household objects everywhere… brainless.

Newspapermen took pictures of the scene, while Cedric gasped.

The same C.I.A. women brushed by him, shaking their heads. "We don't have any idea what happened here…" The stiff one said.

_Please don't hurt me… please._ The voice wasn't coming from them either. Cedric blinked several times but the voice only got more desperate.

"I've got a theory." The other one said quietly, and Cedric eyed the two of them oddly. One of them, extremely stern looking, was crossing her arms. The other one had long red hair. She was pretty, Cedric noticed, as she glanced around the house edgily.

"You always do." The remote one said wryly.

_Please don't hurt me._

Cedric refrained from screaming out loud in frustration. Where was this voice coming from?

"This was Voldemort."

"There is no Voldemort. Last words said that he was a dying victim," The stern lady said firmly. "I mean, honestly, Susan, look at her," She said, looking stonily at the pinned-up-Mother. "It must have taken three guys to lift her up that high. What about the daughter?"

"No sign," The lady named Susan said. "We checked the house and surroundings. Have you seen what happened to the father?"

Cedric, the _please don't hurt me_ still loud and clear in his ears, looked in the direction that Susan was pointing at.

A man, frozen solid, the top of his head sawed off, was caught in mid air, where his spoon full of cereal was halfway to his mouth. Cedric backed away from the frozen man.

"Frozen solid, skull sawed off. We need to find out how." Susan murmured firmly.

"The little girl is the priority." The other women said.

_Please don't hurt me… please._

As Cedric neared the staircase, the voice got even louder. Susan and her friend looked at him curiously.

"You are not supposed to be in here." The stiff one said, but Cedric shushed her. He pulled away an end table that was near a wall, the voice booming in his ears. Pushing frantically at the wall that the table had blocked, it fell open. A little girl was hiding, terrified inside it.

_Please don't hurt me!_

Cedric looked behind him to find Susan and her friend staring avidly.

"It's okay!" He told the girl. "It's okay, you're safe now." When she didn't stop quivering, he outstretched his hand warmly. "See, look, I'm a cop, I'm one of the good guys!"

_Please don't hurt me_.

"I'm not going to let anybody hurt you," Cedric promised. "See, just take my hand. I promise."

S E V E R U S S N A P E

"For years he'd been working on a mathematical theorem using the human gene and DNA migration plans. He thought he could find a way to identify these people, the one's who were special. I never believed it was possible," Severus said fervently, leading Ginny over to the map that was in the corner of his father's apartment. "We fought about it constantly."

The phone rang, and Severus made to answer it, but Ginny laid her hand on his arm.

"Did he ever get to any?"

Severus shrugged. The phone stopped ringing.

_This is Professor Snape. Please leave a message._ The answering machine mumbled.

Ginny walked over to the phone. "Your father had messages." She clicked on the 'play' button.

_Professor Snape, you forgot to feed Sevvy again. Where's your head, man?_

Ginny's eyes widened when she saw the empty cage in the corner. "Oh my god, Severus!"

"Yes?" Snape answered promptly.

"No, the other Severus, the toad! He escaped!" She knelt down on the floor, crawling around pathetically, looking for the toad.

Severus immediately checked around his feet. Toads??

He joined Ginny on the floor, very aware of where he was crawling, but still listening to the messages on his father's machine that were still playing.

"He's got to be around here somewhere." Ginny muttered, circling the table. Severus followed her, when another message started playing on the machine. Snape stopped crawling.

"…what?" Ginny asked curiously, and Snape carefully rose to the table's height.

_Hello, Snape. Why won't you talk to me? You can't leave me like this._ A smooth voice asked sleekly.

Another voice – his father's voice – rang onto the machine. It seemed that his father had answered the phone during the message.

_Hello, Mr. Riddle? I told you not to call here anymore._

The other voice ignored his father. _The hunger… It's – I can't control it. I don't want to. You made me this way._

His father was irritated. _I made you a murderer?_

_You helped me discover… my potential. You wanted to see what I can do as much as I do. And now… you want it to stop._

_It's over. Goodbye_. His father hung up.

Severus had stood up completely now, his eyes staring at the machine disbelievingly. Ginny was suddenly behind him.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"I found a tape of a conversation my father had with a man named Voldemort. A… a man that he believed was patient zero–!"

A crashing sound interrupted their conversation and they both turned, seeing a slimy and pudgy toad scrambling a top some books as a few novels came plummeting to the ground. Ginny hurriedly picked him up.

"Come here, you…" She cooed, holding him up to Severus. "Severus, this is Severus." Ginny said with a grin.

Severus retreated disgustedly. "Put it in its cage, Ginny. It looks awfully… sticky."

Ginny shrugged and did so, when her eyes fastened around something among the rocks of the toad's cage.

"What is it?" Snape asked sharply.

Her fingers curled around something in the cage. "A portable hard-drive."

Snape's thoughts immediately went to the device, his eyes snapping over to Ginny's hands. Had it been something of his father's? Or something that the murderer had dropped? He took it from her grasp, leading her over to his father's laptop computer. He plugged it in interestedly.

Running along the screen was a bunch of greenish dots and lines, gibberish, no doubt, but still something of importance. Severus couldn't help smiling.

"My god, he did it. He actually came up with a way to find them," He said enthusiastically, staring at the nonsense in front of him excitedly. "You wondered why someone would want to murder my father, the reason for his death? It's this!" He pointed at the computer furiously, standing up in his chair.

With a determined nod, he said: "I'm going to finish what he started."

C E D R I C D I G G O R Y

Cedric stood outside of the scene-of-the-crime house firmly. The girl had been taken care of, as had the parents, who had been cleaned up promptly. His head swimming, Cedric had simply tried to find out what had happened in the house, when –

No, it can't have been true. He could _not_ have been able to hear a little girl pleading for help. It was ridiculous. And nobody had confirmed that she had indeed been thinking that.

Staring hard at the pavement in front of him, Cedric's mind wandered to the girl's quivering form. She had been hidden in a wall… how would Cedric had been able to hear her, _find her_, if she was so well concealed and had not uttered a word at all. Hadn't everybody been able to hear her pleading?

The poor girl had probably no idea what was going on. Cedric didn't even know her name.

"Hey, Diggory," A sharp voice said, and he felt himself being turned around roughly to face the stiff looking C.I.A. lady with her friend, Susan. "How the hell did you know that that little girl was in there?"

"I… I don't know. I just – I just heard her whispering, and…" Cedric said truthfully, shaking his head.

"House full of cops, and you just _heard_ her whisper?" Susan asked incredulously, her face skeptic.

"I… I can't explain it. I thought everybody could hear her, you guys couldn't hear her?" He asked rather concernedly.

The stiff lady pursed her lips and crossed her arms.

Cedric checked his watch.

"You got someplace better to be?" Stiff-lady said crossly.

"It's my wife," He said. "I'm supposed to meeting her at a therapy session. Couple's counseling. We – uh. We're having some problems at home."

_This guy's worthless_. Cedric heard all of sudden, and then furrowed his brows at the stiff-lady, who was shaking her head.

"What did you just say?" Cedric asked, not quite sure what she had murmured out.

But wait – had he even _seen_ her lips moving?

"You got lucky, Diggory." She said stonily, before stalking off. The police officer named Susan examined him curiously, and when she didn't say anything, Cedric tried to walk away.

"Not yet, Diggory." Susan said shortly. Cedric sighed, stopping, checking his watch again.

He eyed her impatiently.

"Your captain says that you've taken the exam to police detective… three times?"

Cedric flushed. "Right." He muttered.

"Do you really think that you're _detective material_?" She questioned.

"Yes, ma'am, I do." Cedric said.

"_My name_," She said irritably, poking him in the chest. "Is Officer Bones," She glared at him. "How does it make you feel, flunking out so many times?"

Cedric never called it _flunking out_. Simply failing.

"I… embarrassed, I guess. A little angry."

Susan Bones raised her eyebrows. "A little angry?"

"Yeah!" Cedric snapped back. Who was she to question his grades on his detective exams?

"Angry enough to do something about it?" She inquired smoothly. "Maybe set yourself up to look like a hero?"

Realization sunk into Cedric's brain like cold ice water splashing in. He gaped at Officer Bones furiously. "Wait a moment, do you think that _I_ killed these people? I didn't kill these people!"

Words sunk into his mind.

"_This was Voldemort."_

"_There is no Voldemort."_

"Voldemort did." Cedric finished firmly.

That, obviously, was not the right thing to say, as Susan's eyes widened.

_How did you know that name? _Rang in his mind, even though Susan wasn't speaking. Cedric was about to respond, when she actually said that aloud.

"How did you know that name?"

When he didn't respond, since he couldn't explain away eavesdropping on her and the other remote officer, Susan got furious.

"Six people assigned to this case know the name Voldemort. How the hell did you know that?" She hissed.

"I heard it!" Cedric said defensively, and when Susan tilted her head disbelievingly he pointed at her. "From you."

_Like you heard the girl whisper_.

Her lips weren't moving, but Cedric replied angrily. "Yeah!"

"Then hear this," Susan muttered. "You're under arrest."

"Hey!" Cedric shouted, but she pushed him up against the wall and fastened his hands together, dragging him along.

L I L Y E V A N S AND H A R R Y E V A N S

Lily was following the map.

Because the sticky-note told her to follow the map and look in the trunk, she was following the map, despite the fact that the map had been tucked into the trunk with two extremely torn apart and bloody thugs.

It was dark and cold and dead of night out when Lily finally found the end of the long red line that was showing her way on the crinkly map. The road had stopped. Dead end. Only a large dark field with purely dirt shone in her headlights. Perhaps the map had been wrong… it had only been a sticky note.

But something in Lily's mind told her to check out the field anyway, regardless of the fact that it was an ungodly hour and that this could have been a trap from another one of Dumbledore's men.

But she got out of the car, making sure that Harry was still deep asleep in the backseat, and sprinted towards the field of dirt. She was shivering and she could feel bugs crawling up her pants, but she suddenly realized that right in the front of the dirt field was a large shovel protruding from the ground. As thought waiting patiently in the dirt; implanted; Lily felt her hands wrap around the handle and pull out the shovel.

She started digging.

It was barely three digs into the ground when metal met something hard in the ground. She thrust the shovel down again. _Clank_.

_Bingo._ Lily thought, throwing herself at the ground and dog-digging lightly with her hands. Mud was riding up her nails, but when they scraped something hard, her eyes fell upon something truly terrifying.

A skull.

H E R M I O N E W E A S L E Y / G R A N G E R

Mr. Weasley sat in his favorite armchair in his study, pushing his glasses up the ridge of his nose sophistically, when Hermione entered.

"Hermione!" He greeted warmly. "How was school?"

"Very school like, how was work?" Hermione replied with a smile, closing the door behind her and walking towards Mr. Weasley.

"Very work-like," He looked up at Hermione. "Listen, I – um – made a couple of calls today."

He patted the chair in front of him, motioning for Hermione to sit into it. She did slowly.

"I spoke to a very nice women from the adoption agency, and she said that they were going to try to get in touch… with your birth parents. And that… uh. They request a meeting." He murmured.

Hermione felt a grin splitting onto her face. "I thought that was an adult decision."

"Well, you seemed pretty adult this morning when you told me that you wanted to do it." Mr. Weasley said solemnly.

"Thanks."

"She said it was a lengthy process. It could take weeks. I'm hoping… for years. That way you'll be my little girl longer," He smiled sadly. "I'm not done protecting you from the world."

She returned the half-hearted grin.

"You're my dad," She said quietly. "You'll never not be my dad. I promise I'll be your little girl as long as I can." Hermione tucked a wave of hair behind her ear.

"I know," Mr. Weasley said, equally silent. He reached out and grabbed her hands. "But it breaks my heart."

A single tear fell down her face. "I love you, Dad." She mumbled.

"I love you too, Sweetheart," He replied, wiping the tear off her face. She smiled at him again. "Now go get ready for dinner."

Hermione gave him a quick hug before disappearing swiftly out of the study, and Mr. Weasley leant back in his chair again with a sigh. He reached down underneath his armchair, pulling out a small screen.

He clicked the play button.

"_This is Hermione Granger. And that was attempt number six."_

He watched as camera-Hermione got off from the ground and readjusting her dislocated shoulder easily.

"It really does break my heart." He muttered.

S I R I U S B L A C K

It was dark on top of the roof of his apartment, only the gleaming lights from the city illuminating the shadowy night. Sirius sat on top of edge broodingly, staring down at the streets with his hair occasionally sweeping into his face. He made no move to brush it behind his ear.

A loud scraping noise was heard behind Sirius, but he barely turned around to a see disheveled Remus staring at him with concern. Remus closed the door to the roof behind him.

He shuffled forward a bit, trying to sound stern but coming off worriedly. "I've been looking all over for you." Remus said.

Sirius looked away again, eyeing the stars with silence. Finally he spoke again.

"Did you know about Dad's depression?" Sirius asked eventually. Remus rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, looking at his shoes.

"I – yeah." said Remus shamefacedly.

Sirius felt something inside of him turn even colder. His own brother – _Remus_ – kept something so important away from him. Something that Sirius couldn't even bother knowing he had ripped quietly around his heart.

"Why… why did you never tell me?" he asked, trying to keep the upset-tone out of his voice, but finding it rather difficult.

Remus gave a sigh. "I'm sorry you had to find out this way, but…" he looked ahead at the back of Sirius. "Everyone's entitled to their secrets, Sirius."

Sirius looked from the sky to the ground. He could remember – walking over the rim and flying – but Remus wasn't about to admit anything.

"I was so sure," Sirius said with a slight stutter in his voice. "When… when _it_ happened, I had been sure. But now it turns out that I'm just going crazy." He stood up and stared at Remus. His feet were centimeters away from falling over the edge. Remus uncomfortably noticed that too. Seeing that Sirius was still bent about talking about flying – Remus didn't want him to jump again.

He hurriedly extended a hand as if to stop Sirius. "Look, Sirius, we've been here before, we've played this game," Remus said hastily. "Let's just… let's just go."

Sirius didn't move. "Tell me what happened, Remus," he said determinedly. "When I jumped. Tell me… tell me you flew." Sirius said with a hint of something wet in his eye.

Remus was quiet for a moment before he opened in his mouth in something that Sirius knew was going to be a reasonable and logical "nothing happened, Sirius" just like a politician would say to get out of a situation like this. He cut him off.

"I want to hear you say that you flew." he repeated firmly.

Remus remained quiet.

Sirius took a small step back on the rim of the building. "Tell me or I jump again," he warned, and was satisfied to see Remus twitch uneasily. "Good luck with your campaign when I'm splattered all over the ground below." He let the end of his shoes rest on air.

Remus was certainly letting in, but not yet. He twitched again.

Sirius let the end of his shoes tip a little bit, and he caught himself again as though he had slipped.

"Alright!" Remus said loudly. "You want the truth?" he said again, softer this time.

Sirius nodded with an unheard 'yeah'.

It almost looked as though it was paining Remus to say this. He looked up at Sirius. "We both flew. Sirius – I tried to catch you and lost control. You – you were too heavy. We both started falling to the ground, but just before we… just before we hit, you flew. _You_." Remus said.

Sirius looked at his brother. "Are you lying to me?"

Remus shook his head.

"You are!" The black-haired man said furiously. He walked forward on the rim with his eyes bulging. "You're trying to tell me what I want to hear. You're lying to me – again!" His tone was beyond harsh.

But Remus' eyes were focused on something else. With a glance up at Sirius, he pointed to the spot where his feet were. Sirius looked down, only to see his feet hovering on air.

He was at least two feet up, just hovering eerily. His eyes bulged before he stumbled and fell back to the ground. A smile was gently on his lips as his eyes grew wider. Sirius stared at Remus, his grin increasing.

Remus felt the wind knocked out of him in a sudden, Sirius clinging onto his neck and grinning insanely into his shoulder. Remus instantly wrapped his arms around the black-haired man, biting his lip, as he felt Sirius beam with joy.

Sirius pulled back a bit, their cheeks touching as he breathlessly tried to speak.

"Did – did you see that? I-I flew!" He whispered, and Remus nodded all the while, pushing him back into a fierce hug.

"Yeah – I know." The tawny-haired man said, shaking slightly as Sirius panted a little.

And it was days later when Sirius came across the same scene in the drawing that he had sketched while he was in the hospital, with a stick figure hovering on a roof top and another stick figure with a tie staring.

What had he done?

S E A M U S F I N N I G AN ( b a c k i n t h e f u t u r e )

"You're one sick son of a bitch, you know that?" A police investigator said gruffly to Seamus, who was watching horrifyingly as Draco Malfoy was pulled onto a stretcher and carried away. His trail of blood and the gun were still on the floor.

There was another police officer taking notes next to the gruff one interrogating Seamus, who was sitting in a chair at a paint-covered desk innocently. The investigator stared at him hard from the other side of the paint.

"I." Seamus stuttered, his mouth agape.

"What I want to know is what did you the man's brain?" The officer said seriously, while the other man scribbled away madly. "Did you flush it down the toilet, eat it, or what?"

The note-taking officer raised his eyebrows at the officer.

"We got a live one here," The gruff man said. "No passport, no _talking_, apparently – no American money, no ID… except this here," He held up Seamus' wallet. "_An honorary member of the Merry Marching Marble's Society._"

Seamus flushed slightly.

"How did you even get to New York?" The officer said.

"I broke the space and time continuum – I teleported." Seamus blurted, not thinking one second for if the officers would even believe him.

"Teleporting?" The officer barked. "What the hell is that?"

Seamus didn't answer.

"How long ago did you do this?" The man said, his frustration mounting.

"Yesterday." Seamus answered earnestly. The officer smirked.

"Yesterday…" he repeated in a disbelieving tone.

"If you let me make a phone call, my friend will clear everything up." Seamus promised hastily. The officer raised his eyebrows, but then brusquely jerked out his cell phone and shoved it at Seamus.

"Hello." The unenthusiastic voice droned at the other end of the speaker.

"Dean? Dean?" Seamus muttered.

"I – _Seamus_?" He asked incredulously. Seamus heard the sound of a rolling chair and a piece of paper rustling. At Dean's desk, the piece of paper read _Seamus Finnigan – missing for six weeks_.

"Yes!" Seamus shouted back.

"Seamus – where are you?" Dean questioned worriedly.

"New York! I teleported!" he replied.

The investigator yanked the phone from his hand and grumpily introduced himself.

"This is an Officer for the New York police – your friend says that he was with you yesterday?" The man asked shortly.

"Yesterday?" Dean repeated incredulously.

"That's not correct?" The officer said, shooting Seamus a glare.

"I – I have not seen Seamus Finnigan in six weeks – we looked for him _everywhere_." Dean said.

"Your buddy hasn't seen you in six weeks." The officer said to Seamus, who gaped.

He stared confusedly at his wrist, where he pulled back his sleeve and stared at his watch. The luminous letters beeped:

_10/2_

"I – October second." he said perplexedly.

"October second? No pal. Today–" The officer pulled out a newspaper and shoved it at Seamus. At the heading of the paper said _November Eighth._ "Today is November eighth."

Seamus examined the top of the newspaper roughly, but the date did not change. The headline stood proudly – _Lupin Wins In Landslide_, but Seamus' eyes only darted over that part once.

"November – no, _October_." Seamus said firmly.

But they were interrupted, as a loud roar came from the window, and the officers jumped up, including Seamus. The window cracked slightly – and with a loud _bang_ as if an explosion had gone off, Seamus rushed towards the window. A large cloud of smoke – bigger than the city itself rose. Light arose high and the officers covered their eyes, but the cloud of smoke was rapidly going higher than all of the buildings – as if a bomb had gone off –

Seamus closed his eyes and gritted his teeth, concentrating hard as he felt his fists clench.

And all of the sudden the light and the noise was gone, and Seamus was back in the subway, clinging onto the railing with his teeth shaking wildly.

He had traveled forward in time, and Seamus was happy to be back in the present.

_For all his bluster, it is the sad province of man that he cannot choose his triumph. He can only choose how he will stand when the call of destiny comes, hoping that he will have the courage to answer._


	3. One Giant Leap

Chapter Three: _One Giant Leap_

When evolution selects its agents, it does so at a cost. It makes demands in exchange for singularity, and you may be asked to do something against your very nature. Suddenly, the change in your life that should have been wonderful comes as a betrayal. It may seem cruel, but the goal is nothing short of self-preservation, survival.

She started digging.

It was barely three digs into the ground when metal met something hard in the ground. She thrust the shovel down again. _Clank_.

_Bingo_. Lily thought, throwing herself at the ground and dog-digging lightly with her hands. Mud was riding up her nails, but when they scraped something solid, her eyes fell upon something truly terrifying.

A skull.

Lily felt herself revolt back, something lurching in her stomach. She had instinct to cover her hand with her mouth but didn't – only to close her eyes firmly and start covering up the skull furiously with more dirt. Again, her fingernails scraped over something equally hard as she dug at the ground for dirt to cover up the skull.

In the newly dug up ground, lay a skeletal hand.

It wasn't quite as disgusting as the skull nestled in the damp earth, so her hands delicately brushed by the grubby bones when her eyes fell upon something metallic and shiny resting on the finger of the hand.

_A ring_.

With the famous insignia of a skull – that Lily was familiar with only too well – her mind struck to one thought.

_James_.

James' friend Peter Pettigrew had been in league with James right before he was sent off to jail. As a mark of their friendship, Pettigrew had worn the ring and obviously hadn't taken it off ever – even when he was about to die.

Wait a moment – Pettigrew probably was unaware of his death. James could have killed him – so there was no more crew anymore to point the finger to.

She slipped the ring into her pocket, standing up. Her eyes grazed over the dark cemetery that was illuminated by her headlights. This was perfect – for burying, that was.

Lily hurried to the back of her trunk, slipping a hand quietly into her back pocket for her key. She unlocked the trunk, thankful for the darkness that eclipsed the dead bodies of Dumbledore's thugs. She dragged them out and lay them on the dirt, getting ready to bury a 'resting place' for them.

H E R M I O NE W E A S L E Y / G R A N G E R

Hermione dragged out a large stuffed papier-mâché doll, three feet tall and crossed eyed, from Mr. Weasley's trunk with a sigh. She slung it over her shoulder.

"So mind telling me again," Mr. Weasley said confusedly. "But what is this for?" he asked, pointing to the doll.

Hermione smiled. "It's for the game tonight. The team we're playing against – this doll is their mascot. If we win, it'll be roasting on the bonfire…" she said with a smile.

"And if you lose?"

"Then I'll throw it away. Well, if our team _does_ win, we have our celebratory bonfire night." Hermione said.

"On a school night?" Mr. Weasley asked incredulously.

"A celebratory school night." she corrected with a beam, looking over her shoulder. Blaise sent her a toothy grin from what she assumed was his car. Hermione smiled back.

"So is that the Quarterback?" Mr. Weasley said curiously, his gaze following her eyes. She distractedly looked back again, shaking her head out of her trance.

"Who?" she asked dazedly.

"The boy you like over there."

Hermione snapped her head towards her father. "I don't like him," she said hastily. "I mean, he's a very nice boy, but…" Hermione sighed. "_yes_, he's the Quarterback…"

Hermione felt her father stop abruptly next to her and ceased her walking as well, her eyes falling upon Lavender, who was cheekily smiling at Mr. Weasley.

"I love your glasses, Mr. Weasley," she said in a polite-but-sarcastic tone. Mr. Weasley sensed the sarcasm but smiled nonetheless.

"Well, thank you, Lavender," he said in an odd voice. "Rumor has it that you're a local hero. Pulling a man out of a burning train car…?"

Lavender smiled toothily before pretending to be embarrassed and looking downwards. Her smile was immovable, though. "Oh, you heard about that? Does everybody know?"

Hermione's grin was entirely polite as she irritably straightened the strap on her backpack. "It was on the news, you told half the school to set their TVs."

Lavender ignored Hermione. "It's going to be my cornerstone for my campaign for class president. I'm running on an idea that enhances moral, mental, and social advancement for good deeds… what do you think?" her grin was so wide her face was almost splitting in half. She didn't wait for Mr. Weasley nor Hermione to respond before she rushed off giddily.

Hermione jerked the papier-mâché mascot off of her shoulder and irritably spoke: "I think I need to get something out of my locker." she said, excusing herself and walking towards the school entrance.

"Hey," Mr. Weasley called after her, putting Hermione to a stop. He kissed her cheek before the bell rang loudly.

Hermione walked off to the door, but her father stopped her again.

"Hermione," he said loudly. She turned around. "Be careful."

She ignored the weirdness of this statement before nodding earnestly and entering the school.

S E A M U S F I N N I G A N A N D D E A N T H O M A S

Dean was utterly engrossed in watching Lily on screen for the sixteenth time that day, this time lifting up his Ipod and recording it there with a satisfied smirk on his face, when he felt loud footsteps thumping on the carpet to his desk. He hurriedly closed the Lily-screen.

"Dean!" a voice shouted concernedly.

Dean jumped. "Where have you been these last two days?" he asked sharply.

"I teleported myself into the future!" Seamus said, worry and excitement building up in his voice. Dean sighed.

"Seamus, haven't we been through all this?"

Seamus had been prepared for that. He reached for the crinkled magazine in the back of his pocket. Thrusting the cover out proudly at Dean, he smiled.

"Then explain this," he saw Dean's eyes graze over the cover. "It tells the whole story of my heroic journey."

Dean wasn't impressed. "Is this how you spend your time?" he asked condescendingly, tutting, "photo shopping yourself into a comic book?"

"Read it!!" Seamus said urgently, flailing the comic book about.

Dean rolled his eyes before he took the comic from Seamus and rifled through the pages. Seamus rambled on.

"Look, I'm on the subway in Japan, and suddenly, I'm six weeks into the future!" Seamus exclaimed, pointing to the comic pages all the while as Dean flipped through them. He raised an eyebrow at Seamus.

"Been hitting the sake?"

Seamus ignored him. "I found the author, but he was dead! Then – there's a nuclear explosion!! Ka-boom!" Dean swatted him over the head and shushed him. "It all happens in six weeks! And you and I, have to stop it." he finished dramatically.

Dean stuffed the comic back into Seamus' hands. "Definitely the sake."

"Look, you're in it too!" Seamus yelled determinedly, reopening the magazine and flipping through the pages wildly. He pointed to a page where Dean is painted perfectly, and then shoved it at his friend.

The page showed pictures of their conversation, where Dean was saying in bubble letters: "_Definitely the sake_." his eyes grew wide for a moment.

"How could I know that you were going to say that?" Seamus demanded furiously, disrupting Dean's thoughts.

"We have work to do. _If_ you still work here." Dean brushed off, standing up. Seamus stood in his way.

"If I can prove it to you beyond a shadow of a doubt – will you come with me?" he pleaded. Dean stood critically in his way, but Seamus immediately started raving as his watch beeped.

"We have to go right now! The comic book tells me that I have to save a girl – right now! I can prove it to you!"

Seamus ran, and Dean stared after him perplexedly.

_Girls?_

Dean shrugged and hurried after Seamus.

S I R I U S B L A C K

Sirius stared upwards, wind blowing strands of his soft black hair away from his forehead.

_Sky, sky…_ endless sea of blue and white, clouds splaying gracefully over the air as though it was cotton willing to be curled up against. Sirius focused on the clouds, imagining that his nose was touching them. He was high up – high enough to _fly…_

He looked ahead, and in the back of Sirius' head, images of skyscrapers barely underneath his pupils, as though he was face to face with the stars at nighttime.

Finally, Sirius looked down. Miles, miles of endless dropping –_flying_ – awaited him.

Arms outstretched, breeze rippled the wrinkles on Sirius' shirt. His heart pumped hard enough to crinkle his eardrums, because this was the first time he'd done something real in a long time. Flying gave him an excitement that he could get nowhere. As though magic fell from the sky when he was up there.

He closed his eyes and dropped.

"Uumf!" Sirius groaned, as his face came into contact with a layer of thick, fined-grained sand and sprinkles of dirt. Spitting out the mush, Sirius looked up from his spot on the ground, in a sandbox, after falling from a rod on the monkey bars.

A small, chubby boy wearing a thick coat watched him eagerly, slurping away loudly from a milkshake cup.

Sirius wanted to say to the boy: "school hours are _over_, kid" because he was in the school playground, but the boy was standing a few innocent yards away from him, just awaiting Sirius' new plummet from perhaps taller equipment in the playground.

All he did was send the boy an irritable stare, his thick black bangs falling into his eyes as he pushed himself up, brushed the sand off of his clothes, and climbed back up onto the monkey bars (an act that would surely send teachers screeching at him if he'd be back in Elementary school). He sighed as he ignored the pain in his throbbing back and stinging kneecaps.

_Thump_.

Sirius fell down again, and this time, he was sure that he had broken his nose. The kid slurped loudly, probably concealed his snicker in the straw noisily.

R E M U S L U P I N

Remus stared at himself in the mirror briskly as he adjusted his collar on his stiffly ironed shirt and examined that array of blue and red ties hanging carefully off of his assistant's forearm.

"Get the fundraiser donations drawn in, okay? It makes us look responsible."

"Yes, sir, it does." another assistant said cheekily, taking away the mirror and smiling at Remus promisingly.

Remus looked over and saw a certain mess of black hair wafting into the building over all of the other heads.

"Sirius, just the person I want to see–!" Remus began.

"I need to talk to you." Sirius said busily, bustling through the crowd of people and standing beside Remus.

Remus ignored his brother, and instead snatched both ties off of his assistant's elbow, brandishing both of them in front of Sirius' face. "Red or blue?" he asked.

"I dunno, blue…?" Sirius offered hopelessly, shrugging.

The tawny-haired man stares hard at both of the ties, before he nods approvingly and thrusts the red tie into the assistant's fingers. "Red," he said firmly. "A president wears red."

Remus drew an arm around Sirius, smiling and patting his shoulder. "Are you going to come for the speech tonight? Break out the suit, have a few drinks?"

"Um, yeah," Sirius brushes off hurriedly, jogging to keep up with Remus. "uh, listen, I – I _tried _it again."

"Tried what?"

"You know what I mean, what do you think I mean? I – I tried to fly!" Sirius said heatedly.

Remus placed a hand on Sirius' chest, pushing him back a few steps so the other man wasn't whispering in his ear urgently and loudly.

"Would you keep your voice down?"

As Remus walked away briskly, Sirius grabbed for his brother's elbow and pulled him back. "You were there, last night I could fly – this morning – _nothing_. Except for the fact that I nearly broke my neck trying–"

"Well, that would have solved one of our problems…"

Sirius ignored Remus. "Yeah, so I went to the library after that to see if I could find anything about human flight, I came upon this_amazing_ book." Sirius waved up _Activating Evolution_, which Remus' eyes grazed over momentarily.

Sirius opened the book to a flimsy paper bookmark, reading from a passage.

"_Genes determine obesity, blood pressure, out of the thirty million possibilities, one might contain the power of human flight._ This guy knows what's going on, Remus." Sirius said.

"Where did you find this?" Remus asked suspiciously, and Sirius ignored him again.

"The author, his name is Snape, he's a genetics professor. I called him – they said he quiet six months ago – they think he's_here_," Sirius said eagerly. "We gotta find this guy."

"We… we have a more immediate problem. There's this woman reporter, poking around why you jumped off that roof."

"Remus, we _flew_," Sirius interrupted importantly. "Aren't you curious how this happened?"

Remus sighed, his head swaying back a bit. "Yeah, I want answers just like everyone else, Sirius, just like _you_, but right now I have to make it seem like crazy doesn't run in our family."

"Remus, this is for _us_."

"Look, I have an election to win and a family to feed, okay?"

"So, what are you telling that reporter?"

"I know one thing we can't tell her." Remus said. "the truth." he let _Activating Evolution_ fall onto the counter of his desk with a slap.

S E V E R U S S N A P E

Severus typed away fervently on his laptop, ignoring the sweat that had coated his forehead, hair, and back within the last twenty-four hours. His thin coat lay on the floor, discarded, along with his shirt, leaving Severus with only his flimsy t-shirt on that had pushed up past his shoulders.

There was a rustling noise at the door, and Snape, out of both sleep deprivation and paranoia, looked up alertfully and grabbed for the gun beside his laptop, aiming it at the door discreetly at the height of his desk.

When the door finally opened, Ginny came walking in, her red hair brushing about over her shoulders as she shut the door behind her.

"Sorry!" she apologized loudly, a shiny key dangling in one hand while Ginny balanced a large blue bowl in the other hand precariously. Severus sighed in the relief and loosened his grip on the gun.

"I still have your dad's old keys," she explained, brandishing the key and placing it atop Severus' pile of books on his desk carefully. "…maybe I shouldn't." her eyes fell upon the gun in Snape's hand and she stared at it with slight surprise.

"It's all right," Severus muttered, putting the gun back into the drawer. "it's just, after being attacked, every noise I hear…" his faded off desperately. "sorry."

Ginny shrugged, nodding, and she brushed off the topic by opening the lid to the blue bowl in her fingers.

"Well, _this_, is macaroni and cheese. It's what Americans eat when they slowly want to commit suicide." Ginny stalked over into the kitchen and stored the bowl on the counter as though she knew the place better than Severus. Which she probably did. "Your dad said that mine was the best he ever had, but… he was from England."

"…thank you," Severus began. "You're – you're very kind."

Ginny sat at the edge of his desk, smiling softly. "You look like hell," she observed concernedly. "when was the last time you slept?"

Severus sighed and stared at the computer screen blankly.

"All of this work… and I'm no closer to understanding my father's research."

"Well, what about the program in your dad's computer? Didn't you say that he had… cracked some code?"

Snape shrugged at Ginny. "I thought he had. But, the algorithm, it's _gibberish_."

Ginny leant forward so she could spy off of Snape's shoulder, eyeing the computer scrutinizingly with it's green words floating over and down the screen repeatedly.

"Do you know anybody who speaks gibberish?" the red-haired girl asked, grinning at Severus.

Severus wiped at his brow and stood up from his seat. "The man with the horn-rimmed glasses. Chased me around the world, even in this very apartment, looking for this. But this isn't anything!" Snape exclaimed tiredly, leaning against his doorframe.

"Well, then why would your father have built it?" Ginny asked encouragingly.

"Why? It was always like this with my father. Every question met with another question, never an answer!" he looked at Ginny over his shoulder. "Only why."

"What about the map?" she offered, turning around to face the map with the many strings and pins on it. Severus joined her.

"The map," he repeated. "the map is nothing until I figure out the principle behind it," he grabbed Ginny's shoulders and turned them so the girl faced him. "you know, even if I could find just one such person, it could validate everything he believed," he sighed. "but I can't."

"Your father had a lot of faith in you."

"My father only cared about proving he was right," Snape turned and stared at his computer again. "he left his country, his family,_chasing_ his insanity. And now I'm wasting my time trying to prove him sane! Where did it get me…?" he asked, an edge on his voice.

Snape grabbed the laptop, shut the screen, and tossed it forcefully across the room so it skidded on the floor in the kitchen.

"Severus!" Ginny shouted reproachfully, and dashed over to the computer as she kneeled down with it.

"I'm sorry," Snape said, wiping at his temples, walking over to Ginny and kneeling down beside her.

Ginny pulled something that was sticking out of a slot on the computer out, staring at a small, empty journal. She handed it over to Severus, shrugging at the small journal.

Snape examined it carefully, flipping open to its age-worn pages and caressing the soft paper underneath his fingers. So many entries of names, races, and descriptions littered the pages, until he found a small gold key at the very back, along with a page that said:

_Voldemort_

With an according address below it.

"Voldemort." Snape repeated quietly, and stared at the key. Did it open the mysterious Voldemort's house?

"What is it?" Ginny asked, staring at the key horrifyingly.

"It's… it's another question."

C E D R I C D I G G O R Y

Cedric stared at the foggy glass of water in front of him, laying on the plain white table with the matching plain white chair, which incidentally matched the plain white walls and floor.

Cedric looked up to see a thick glass and door that was separating him from the free world outside. He wished that Susan Bone's hard glare would move somewhere else. He felt oddly ex-rayed and petite under her piercing glower.

He sighed hopelessly, impatience on the end of his tone.

He never thought he would be sitting at the table in one of these rooms. He was always the one interrogating the ones sitting down. In a way, standing up gave you a type of power in this room.

"I don't know how else to explain this," Cedric began. "I heard a little girl call for help. I went to her. That's all that happened." he said to Susan, who was folding his arms disapprovingly at Cedric.

"So you just waltzed right in… found missing Luna Lovegood in a wall, then pulled the name Voldemort out of your ass when only a handful of us know that name." Susan said critically.

"It's… it's like someone was talking to me," Cedric began carefully, not knowing how to form his words correctly. "Except that it was in my head."

"Do the voices tell you anything else…? Do they want you to do things? Rob a store, kill the president…?"

"No," Cedric said. "It's more like… like I can hear people's thoughts."

He could hear Susan's heels step back a step as though Cedric was potentially dangerous after making this statement.

But then she moved forward, staring hard at the other man.

"Can you tell me what I'm thinking?" she ordered.

"No, I really can't control this."

"Give it a shot, I'm wide open." Susan insisted commandingly.

Cedric shrugged helplessly. "I dunno, you think that I'm nuts," he said, wildly guessing. "or stupid."

"Neat trick," Susan condescended sardonically. "Stop wasting my time."

_Diggory… I need this more than you do. Nobody believes in me._

Cedric's head shot up, curiosity etched in his face as he repeated the words that were echoing in his head magically.

"Nobody believes in you," he repeated, satisfied at the look on Susan's face, "I know what that feels like."

Cedric let his face fall into his hands, sighing. "How much longer do I have to be in here?" he asked.

"That depends," Susan said, softer this time, "how would you like to work with the FBI?"

H E R M I O N E G R A N G E R / W E A S L E Y

Hermione grabbed her geometry book out of her locker swiftly, piling it up on her arms as Neville came bounding up to her, headphones looped around his neck deftly.

"Hermione! What are you doing running off, when your tape of… bodily harm is still missing??" Neville asked, panic in his voice and face as he bit his bottom lip hard.

"Well, if someone finds it we'll just tell them that they were some visual effects you took care of with your computer." Hermione rifled through her book bag distractedly as she pulled out more books from her locker. "Look, can I get back to my life now?" she asked, closing her locker loudly and walking away.

"What, that's it? You're going to pretend that you're no different from any other girl in the school?"

"Yes, actually!" Hermione said firmly, turning away again.

"But you _are_, Hermione! You _are_ different! Don't you see that?? Don't you see that none of _this_ matters? School spirit doesn't matter, being a pretty cheerleader doesn't matter! That's… that's not who you are anymore."

"So who am I?" Hermione asked crossly. "So what that I can crawl through a wood chipper and live to tell about it. That narrows my chances in life to freak. What's wrong with wanting to be normal, Neville? You should try it."

Hermione stalked off again, Neville still standing by her locker.

D R A C O M A L F O Y

A painting of a brunette cheerleader walking away from a boy with headphones standing by red lockers stands innocently on an easel in Draco's loft, as Cho grabbed it and stashed it with the rest of the other collected paintings.

Draco walked into his apartment, stopping when he saw Cho pushing all of his paintings together.

"What are you doing here?" he asked quietly.

"Draco, you have to get back to work and ignore these silly paintings 'of the future'. The editor called, the comic book is late."

Draco walked over to a free counter space, placing down his sack of groceries. His eyes scanned over the loft suspiciously.

"You were taking them, weren't you." Draco said, not looking at Cho. It wasn't a question.

Cho shrugged airily, her hands on her hips. "Yes, so we can sell them and use the money to get you straightened out. Into rehab." she said firmly.

Draco shook his head, grabbing the painting of the girl and boy by the lockers and placing it back on the easel. "I'm not going into rehab."

"I found all of your junk. The drugs. All of it. I flushed it." Cho said.

Draco gaped at her furiously. "How am I supposed to paint the future–?!"

"Nobody can paint the future!" Cho said angrily, "That's the drugs talking!"

"Look around you at all of these paintings!" Draco roared angrily, his blonde bangs falling into his eyes. He didn't bother to brush them back. "Every one of them has come true!"

Cho turned, sighing, staring at the painting of an explosion on the floor.

"Oh," she said, tutting. "Does that include this big one on the floor of New York going nuclear?"

"I… I don't know how, I don't know when… but… but I have to stop it."

Cho stayed silent, so Draco took the liberty to take a small step forward and cup his fingers around Cho's cheeks.

"I don't want to lose you, Cho," he whispered. "but if you don't believe in me, then you shouldn't be here."

Draco removed his hands from her face and scanned all of the paintings scattered about the loft, all predictive, all important… he needed this more than he did Cho.

"Fine," Cho said coldly, walking towards the steps. "You think you can paint the future? Paint one without me in it."

She stalked up the steps and all Draco could do was stare after her form as though he was letting something wonderful slip through his fingers, but the phone rang in the next second.

Draco, glad for a distraction, slumped over to the telephone and held it up to his face, only to receive an earful of eager Japanese mumbling. Draco groaned.

"I can't understand a word you're saying," he said seriously, growling into the phone. Through gritted teeth, he again attempted to cease the other man's insistent rambling. "Stop calling me here, you've got the wrong number – _wrong number_!"

He irritably pushed the end button and slapped it down onto the table, before frustratingly shoving everything on his paint table off so it clashed to the floor loudly. The table skidded over to the other side of the loft with a screech.

S E A M U S F I N N I G A N AND D E A N T H O M A S

"Who are you calling?" Dean asked Seamus as they walked along the busy streets of Tokyo, many students chatting merrily along the sidewalks as many schools rang their end-of-the-day bells. Dean pushed past all of them ignorantly as he attempted to keep up with his friend who was thoroughly engrossed in his comic book.

"The comic book author!" Seamus said. "to warn him about the future! He keeps hanging up on me!"

"That's because you're crazy," Dean theorized. "I'd hang up on you too."

Seamus stopped suddenly, making Dean bump into him clumsily. "This is the spot!" Seamus yelled eagerly, flipping through the comic book fervently. He turned to face his friend, pointing at the painting in the comic book of an image of the two of them talking in the exact same place.

"A young girl in a school uniform will step in front of speeding truck." Seamus' finger trailed down to another picture on the page, and pointed to a girl that was flailing her arms wildly in front of a truck that had already skidded into a table displaying outdoor shopping items. "And we have to save her. See?"

Dean looked around confusedly. "What school girl?"

Both men looked from left to right, and were horrified to see a busload of unformed school girls being released from school doors, all moving together as a unit.

"Okay…" Dean began, as all of the girls passed them, "Which one is she?"

"I don't know!" Seamus wailed desperately, flipping back to the comic book. "Ah! She has a red bow in her hair! You go this way, I'll go that way!" he pointed to separate directions and bounded off hurriedly.

Seamus scanned within all of the schoolgirls, weaving within them. He grabbed a girl's shoulders, seeing something red flashing about her head, but when she turned horrifyingly to see him, Seamus saw that it was just a girl with crimson headphones.

"Sorry." he murmured, blushing, before running off to the other end of the street.

Dean, on the other side of the sidewalk, looked fruitlessly about, but saw no one.

Seamus ran passed a girl jump roping, a girl walking along with her friends, but none of them had red bows in their hair.

Then there was a girl.

A red scrunchy holding up a tight pigtail.

A hand distractedly waving to someone else, not looking ahead at the large truck a mere yards away.

"Dean! Stop that truck!"

Dean had turned too late. He swiveled on the spot, screamed "Stop! Watch out!" but the girl hadn't heard him.

Seamus clenched his fists, scrunched up his face, gritted his teeth, and concentrated. A pop in his ears made him realize that he had done it.

Relaxing his face, he was ecstatic to see everyone frozen – stuck in time, was the correct term, really. He could do anything he wanted to here. He wouldn't run out of time.

Seamus ran over to the helpless girl, arms out in defensive and mouth open wide in shock, and grabbed her. She was not heavy, which didn't make it hard for Seamus to carry her over to the safety of the sidewalk and bring time off its stand still.

Food and boxes crashed onto the floor and was broken to millions of pieces. But someone had still been saved.

As Seamus put her down, he jumped up in glee. "I did it!" he yelled, seeing Dean staring after him surprisingly. They both ran forward, hugging each other while still jumping around wildly in delight.

"You did it, Seamus! You _did it_!"

"So you believe me now? You'll come with me?!"

L I L Y E V A N S

The sun had risen up hours ago, but she was still digging. A thick layer of sweat had built up on her back, drenching her shirt entirely.

She stared as the last bit of the thug's bloody, and scarily pale face was covered with sand. More sand, just to make it look like a natural pile… more sand. Another shovel. Lily was breathing in nothing but the hot air, which did nothing for her lungs. The sun was broiling on her back; it seemed to be looming right above her.

_She was done_.

Leaning her forehead on the shovel, Lily breathed in deeply, watching a drip of sweat fall down onto the ground. She wiped her brow, walking back to the car.

As she climbed back into her car seat, willing to have air conditioning built in, but she had no time to do anything about it as Harry stirred in the back seat and sat up groggily.

"Hi." he greeted to Lily with half-drooped eyes, his voice hoarse from sleep.

"Hi!" Lily said back, ruffling her son's hair and trying to hide the deep circles that were under her eyes. "How did you sleep?"

"Good," came Harry's answer as he rubbed at his eyes and stretched, "where are we?"

Lily smiled, turning on the car and backing out of the deep dirt. "On our way to grandma's house."

---

Lily pounded on the thick screen net on Mrs. Potter's door, looking grimly through the window. She rapped harder on the wood, still awaiting the heavy footsteps to come plundering out of the kitchen.

In a flash of a second, Mrs. Potter peered over the kitchen doorway. A frown wavered on her lips for a second as she saw Lily standing in on the porch, but she covered it up sweetly with a large grin towards Harry.

Lily didn't care that Mrs. Potter treated Harry like gold and Lily like rust. She's wasn't here for insults. She wouldn't take them this time.

"Harry!" she boomed excitedly, bounding towards the door and unlocking it, capturing Harry in a large hug. She spun him around, and Lily tutted at the pink slippers that Mrs. Potter was sporting on her colossal feet.

"Oh my, how you've grown!" she thundered, smiling cheekily at Harry and fondling his black hair.

"You always say that!" Harry said, chuckling.

"I do."

"Yes, you do."

Mrs. Potter grinned, patting Harry on the shoulders. "Why don't you come inside for some tea, hun? Some nice breakfast? You can rest in the dining room, Harry, dear."

Harry strolled off to the dining room, leaving Lily looking grimly at her grandmother in law and Mrs. Potter glaring back, evil glinting in her eyes.

"You look thin," Mrs. Potter said dryly at Lily, before stalking off to the kitchen.

"I need to talk to you."

Mrs. Potter sighed. "I know what you are going to say," she started wisely. "It's hard raising a boy on your own… having to do so much, you wish you were two people at once, I know… but that boy needs more than you've been giving him," as the kettle started whistling, she gave Lily a glare before tending to the boiling water. "A steady hand and a stable environment, I can give him that."

Mrs. Potter turned back to the overcooked eggs that were simmering away on the stovetop.

"Because James turned out to be such a noble citizen." Lily said icily.

The older woman turned to face Lily bitterly. "My son. Your_husband_," she said. "is a good man."

Lily looked hastily to see if Harry was listening in their conversation before she placed the same ring she found in the cemetery on Mrs. Potter's counter.

"Recognize this?" she asked icily. "I found it in the desert."

Mrs. Potter looked airily at the ring before she loftily turned to Lily. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"This belonged to one of the men that your son murdered. I found it in his grave. You _knew_ that all of James' _crew_ wore these!"

"James wouldn't murder _anybody_." Mrs. Potter said stubbornly, and brushed past Lily to get to the cups in the cabinet.

"You're wrong," the red-headed woman said insistently, her nails clenching into her palm. "he robbed Dumbledore, getting away with two million dollars, and then he killed his crew."

"My son was framed," she said firmly, tossing sugar into mugs. "and he'd be rotting in some prison if he _hadn't_ escaped. Besides – if James _had_ two million dollars, honey, he'd be on some tropical island sitting out his years. _With Harry_."

Lily gave Mrs. Potter a stony glare. "I want you out of my son's life."

"Well, people in hell want _ice water_, doesn't mean they're going to get it."

"You have no idea what I'm capable of." Lily snatched up the ring on the counter and stomped loudly out of the kitchen, ushering Harry along with her.

C E D R I C D I G G O R Y

"Do you want to tell me why I'm still here?" Cedric asked impatiently, jogging alongside Susan Bones.

"We need you to talk to her." Susan responded strictly.

"Talk to who?"

"The girl you found, Luna Lovegood," she said, "we're keeping her here where it's safe until we know what to do with her. She's been through some severe trauma, with her parents murdered right in front of her… she hasn't said a word since we've brought her here."

"What makes you think she's going to want to talk to me?" Cedric asked bluntly.

"Well, if you're really a mind reader she won't have to."

Susan opened a heavy door for Cedric, briskly walking through and straightening her jacket.

"Who is this Voldemort, anyway, what's he doing?" Cedric asked confusedly.

"He leads a trail to more than a dozen murders. All the people impaled by household objects… _bones_ broken, all without any sign of fingerprints. But only _some_ of them show any mutilation of the head or neck, so… we don't have much of a lead."

"So you think it's all Voldemort?" Cedric asked.

"I… I think it's going to get a lot worse if we don't go after him." Susan concluded darkly.

S E V E R U S S N A P E

"Mr. Voldemort?" Severus called through a door, knocking loudly. "Hello?!"

"Shh!" Ginny called terrifyingly behind Snape, arms wrapped around herself protectively. "W-What are you actually going to do if Voldemort's in there?"

Severus reached for the key that he had found in the small brown journal and fumbled with it at the lock. "If Voldemort murdered my father, I need to know why." The door remained locked even with the key's aid, and Snape rustled the door desperately. "I… guess that would have been too easy."

"Let's… go?" Ginny said pleadingly.

"You have no idea what is behind this door!" Severus said firmly, excitement flickering in his eyes.

"It's _locked_, and I'm kind of trying not freak out right now, so can we please just–"

But her pleas were interrupted as Snape pierced a screwdriver into the keyhole and burst open the door, staggering in ungracefully.

"Or… I suppose we can just break in." Ginny said quietly. Snape beckoned her in silently.

Severus groped for his bag, reaching for his camera as he hurriedly took pictures of everything he could.

They walked carefully along the halls, and as Severus brushed by Ginny, he realized that her shoulders were shaking in fright. Snape eased past her into the living room, surprised to see _Activating Evolution_ lying innocently on the coffee table.

Severus examined the bookshelves that lined the walls, when his elbow bumped into a dirty wall mirror, making it pop open to reveal a passageway. Ginny's eyes got wide, but Snape grabbed her hand securely and dragged her along into the dark hall that had been discreetly concealed by the mirror contraption.

Eerie lights hung sinisterly on the ceilings, and as Severus eased along the floor cautiously, his eyes fell upon a replica of the map in his father's apartment.

"Oh my god." he murmured.

"That map," Ginny whispered, "it's just like your fathers."

"Not exactly," Severus corrected. "this map has more strings – more people on them."

Ginny pointed to a newspaper clipping picture that was in the middle of the map. "I know that guy," she said, "he's running for Congress. Remus Lupin."

"His life may be in danger." Severus said seriously. Ginny shuddered subconsciously next to him.

"Look, can we _please_ go now?"

"Not yet," Snape said firmly, and walked on further, pushing past a bunch of black garbage bag streamers to reveal an empty closet, its walls gratified.

On it, in red and black, were written the words:

_Forgive me, for I have sinned_.

Over and over again.

"Dear god," Severus breathed, his heart pumping so loudly he could hear his eardrums crinkling. "what was my father involved with?" he questioned faintly.

C E D R I C D I G G O R Y

The light in the elevator flickered as Cedric and Susan landed on the bottom floor.

"We're keeping Luna in a backroom down here. It's pretty deserted on this floor."

Cedric nodded nervously.

A long, loud scream shrieked from the end of the hall.

More lights flickered uncontrollably as Susan ran down the hall with Cedric at her heels. He watched as Susan fumbled for her gun.

"It's him! It's Voldemort!"

When they both burst through doors, they realized that a dark figure with a black cloak and hat was gripping onto Luna Lovegood as though she was the treasure chest at the bottom of the sea. Voldemort attempted to pull the girl out of the door of her room, but Luna thrashed about and screamed, her blonde hair flying everywhere in an attempt to free herself from the lethal grip Voldemort had her in.

"_Freeze!_" Susan commanded loudly, and Cedric winced as her strong voice echoed along the halls. Voldemort did freeze, dropping Luna and dashing around the corner. Susan ran after him, Cedric dazedly in pursuit.

He screeched at a halt in front of the girl, seeing that Luna Lovegood was crouched against the doorframe, cowering, sweat dripping down her forehead in beads. She was shivering, her teeth clattering in her tremor, and her fright radiating throughout her body and she slowly crawled against the wall.

"Hey, hey, remember me?" Cedric asked Luna, crouching down beside her. "Everything's all right, okay, everything's just fine… it's okay."

_How could he find me?_

Cedric listened to the odd echoing in his head, before he realized that Luna was thinking again and he was hearing her again.

"That doesn't matter, it doesn't matter, you're safe now." Cedric whispered reassuringly, and felt Luna grip to his coat for protection.

But not too long after, he brought Luna back into her room hastily, and locked the door, darting after Susan worriedly.

---

Susan rushed toward the moving form of Voldemort as fast as she could, watching him weave among the many tanks in the maintenance room he had lured her into. She didn't know this route too well, but she had worked in this building many times before, and she had memorized the map of the building, and so she satisfyingly knew that Voldemort was heading towards a dead end.

And Susan was right, as Voldemort screeched to a halt in front of a long, white pipe.

"Give me your hands!" Susan yelled, aiming her gun, and Voldemort turned around slowly, his entire face eclipsed in darkness.

In a flash, Susan felt her gun against her own head, and she panicked slightly at why it was there. She hadn't moved her hand. Her own gun was forced at her head, along with the fact that she suddenly was blown towards the pipe behind her harshly.

Breathing heavily, she attempted to drag that hand away from her head, but it wasn't moving. Voldemort walked forwards slightly, and all Susan could see or comprehend was a slight smirk upon his pale face.

Cedric almost fell on the slippery tile as he burst in, shooting four bullets at Voldemort's chest. He fell instantly to the ground, and as Cedric turned to see Susan on the floor breathlessly with her gun on the ground, he crouched down beside her.

"Are you okay?"

Susan nodded, panting slightly.

He turned around again, ready to handcuff Voldemort to the pipes, when a sudden realization hit him that he was gone.

Cedric ran forward, a thousand thoughts running through his head as he examined the empty space. He heard clanking up at the pipe above, and as Cedric looked up quizzically, he saw a pipe large enough to fit three people. How had Voldemort gotten up there?

"What happened, Diggory?" Susan asked breathlessly by the floor, but Cedric said nothing.

S E A M U S F I N N I G A N AND D E A N T H O M A S

Dean sighed, leaning forward slightly past the morbidly large woman reading a magazine, trying to get the attention of his eager friend who was engrossed deeply in his Ninth Wonders.

"I'm confused," Dean said. "you said you called me in the future."

"Yeah, so?" Seamus asked distractedly, his eyes not leaving the comic book.

"So… shouldn't I be at home? Waiting for your call?"

"We're changing the future!" Seamus said, disagreeing. "By taking action, we've changed something."

Dean nervously fiddled with his fingernails. "What if we make it worse? And – and if there's a nuclear explosion, shouldn't we be flying _away_ from the bomb?"

Seamus 'tisked' his finger at Dean. "Ah, ah, ah, Dean… A hero never runs away from his destiny." he smiled wisely. "my only concern is… if I should hide my true identity. Perhaps a costume?"

"You even _mention_ tights and a cape, and _I'm_ going home." Dean warned threateningly.

"You can't go home!" Seamus wailed indignantly. "the comic book says we fly together, so we fly together!" he said firmly, pointing fixedly at a drawing with the two sitting together on a plane, with the chubby lady in the middle laying her head on Dean's shoulder, her mouth open in a snore.

Dean's eyes widened at the picture, staring horrifyingly at the woman next to him.

The lady moved, grunted, and stretched before she laid her head full of cloud-like curls on Dean's shoulder. Dean gaped, making a small noise of protestation, but the lady seemed to already be dozing off. Seamus snickered to himself knowingly.

S I R I U S B L A C K

Sirius down the steps to the hospital, everything around him seeming to be in slow motion including himself, even though he was hurrying hastily to get out of the door. He knew that this was not what he wanted to do forever – be a _hospice_ _nurse_ – but still, he felt horrible leaving Cho's father.

And to make things worse, Cho was striding into the hospital, looking prettier than ever with her hair silky and smooth and with this shiny glow seeming to radiate off of her.

Sirius sighed.

The guilt trip, puppy dog eyes, or subconscious pleading voice that Cho would give him for leaving her father would make his day from awful to _terrible_.

"Sirius!" she called smilingly, looking up the stairs surprisingly. "Hey! I was just going upstairs to check on my dad."

Sirius felt his insides drop at one hundred miles a second. "Oh." he murmured in a small voice. He scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

"Where are you going, aren't you supposed to be in his shift?" Cho asked suspiciously.

More dropping.

"Er… yeah. I was just… filling in my replacement… saying goodbye to your dad, you know–"

"…what?" Cho asked slowly, dread oozing into her face.

"I – listen–"

"No!" Cho whined, interrupting him.

"Look, I'm quitting."

"But why??"

"I… I called the agency and told them this morning."

"But – my father," Cho insisted.

"That – that other nurse, Bertha Jorkins, she's gonna take really good care of him, all right?" Sirius tried to persuade convincingly.

"But she's not you."

Sirius tried the comfort-and-console method. He put a hand on her shoulder, smiling sadly. "Look, this isn't what I'm supposed to do, this isn't what I'm supposed to be. I… I can't really explain it."

Cho tilted her head, her lips pursed. "Try." she said patiently.

"Well, truth is…" Sirius said tentatively. "I… I've been trying to save the world one person at a time – but, but I'm meant for something better. Something _important_, I know it now. That's really… all I can tell you."

Silence.

And then Cho smiled, a really small hesitant smile, but Sirius gladly returned it to cut the uneasy quietness. Then he awkwardly patted her purse and walked away.

"I'll miss you." Cho called after him, and Sirius turned again.

"I… it's New York. Everyone runs into one another sooner or later."

Cho nodded. "Maybe it'll be sooner."

H E R M I O N E G R A N G E R / W E A S L E Y

Hermione could hear Lavender rambling off to her friends about her heroic act of pulling the man out of the burning train car in a dramatic voice, boasting on and on. How Lavender could keep the attention of six hungry cheerleaders was amazing to Hermione. But then again, she would have more than six _hundred_ people lined up by her door if they knew what she could do.

"Flames were everywhere – oh my god, I could hear the poor man coughing someone inside the train car – but, but there was smoke everywhere, I couldn't see him. I was _so _scared, you guys…"

Hermione watched as the girls bustled around Lavender concernedly, patting at her shoulders. Hermione shook her head at the attentiveness Lavender had received ever since she had claimed the right of Hermione's stunt at the train car.

The brown-haired girl stared into the flames, watching them gather around the logs, cotton, and mascot that Hermione had created.

Blaise swooped right next to Hermione, smiling cheekily.

"Nice mascot," he complimented.

"Thanks," Hermione said, laughing. "I stayed up all night yesterday stuffing it with… newspaper."

"I would have filled it with fire crackers, but that's just me."

Hermione grinned back. "That would have been cool."

Blaise put his hands on her shoulders and pulled her back a bit from the bonfire flames. "Careful," he warned. "stand too close and you might end up like that guy from the train car."

"I'm… not as flammable as he is."

"So – there's a keg in the back. Want some?"

Before Hermione could protest, Blaise grabbed her elbow and steered her over to the line that many students were bustling around in. A laughing blonde loftily handed them two cups of beers, laughing drunkenly. Hermione stared in the depths of her cup uneasily, watching the foam bubble away.

"Are you sure this is okay?" she asked for reassurance, and Blaise pursed his lips.

"You're _miles_ away from home, who's gonna know?"

"I… I guess that my parents can't find out." Hermione nodded, but still didn't drink from her cup, watching as Blaise took long swigs, chugging down gulps as though he hadn't drunken anything in days.

"Lavender told me that you want to meet your real mum and dad." Blaise said.

Hermione scowled. "I told Lavender that a long time ago," she mumbled, "with confidence."

Blaise laughed. "You do realize you were talking to Lavender, right?"

She shrugged.

"Is that why you're bummed? The whole adoption thing? I mean… you didn't like just find out, did you?"

Hermione's eyes widened. "Oh, no no no, they told me when I was really little… why… why would you think that I'm bummed?"

"You don't seem like yourself. I thought that maybe something was wrong."

Hermione smiled. "You don't know me well enough to know when I'm not myself."

"Let's see, you never drink plain milk. It's always strawberry. You draw witches in the margin of your notebook, you put chips in your sandwiches to make them crunch, and you're always the first person to laugh at something hilarious. Even though I haven't heard you laugh in a while. Lately… lately you seem sort of sad."

She paused before answering. "Have… have you been spying on me?"

Blaise laughed. "Hermione, my goal tonight is to hear you laugh."

There were loud, numerous pops sounding from the mascot that hung pitifully on the bonfire, and Hermione turned to see firecrackers exploding out of it's head, newspaper flying in every which way direction. She laughed.

"Did you put firecrackers in his head just for me?" she asked, grinning at Blaise widely.

As an answer, Blaise leant down, kissing her soundly on the lips. When he pulled away, Hermione's eyes were bulging, and she wasn't smiling carelessly anymore. She opened her mouth but no sound was audible.

Blaise took hold of her hand, drawing her away from the bonfire, Pansy Parkinson looking after then worriedly.

C E D R I C D I G G O R Y

Cedric bounded excitedly up the stairs, through the hall, screeching to a halt in front of his bedroom door. He could hear Hannah through the thin wood, the sound of pages being turned and turned again from a flimsy book.

"Hey," Cedric said, turning the knob to the door and smiling faintly at his wife, who sighed tiredly. "Look, I know that I missed our therapy session."

"It's fine." Hannah mumbled in an irritated, silent voice.

"No, no it wasn't – I meant to call you but I had the _craziest_ day! It was just – so amazing, and strange, I… I don't even I know how to describe it!" Cedric smiled, brushing a strand of hair back behind his ear.

"Then don't." Hannah said in a frustrated voice, shutting her book closed and getting up from the bed sheets, brushing past Cedric.

"That – that's it? _That's it?_ You waited up all this time to tell me that you don't want to talk to me?" Cedric asked angrily.

"I really don't want this to turn into a fight, and if I say anything else, it will," Hannah said, rustling around a pile full of sweaters. "I am _really_ trying, Ced. I mean, this marriage may not mean anything to you, but–"

"It _does_, of course it does!" Cedric interrupted hastily. "What are you talking about? It's just, I have a lot of stuff going on right now–"

"So do I," Hannah hissed. "It… it was supposed to be a good thing when I made associate, and you were supposed to be happy for me. But it seems like you're _mad_ at me for getting what I wanted because _you_ haven't!"

With a tense silence flexing Hannah's cheekbone grimly, she strode past Cedric stiffly.

Cedric turned blankly. "I… I don't mean to be. It's just – it's hard, Hannah."

_I can't do this anymore. I wish you would just leave_.

"Fine," Cedric answered to his wife's thoughts out loud, "I will."

Hannah turned to face Cedric confusedly, her eyebrows furrowed as though how her husband had made that perfect assumption of what she had been contemplating furiously in her head, but Cedric had headed for the door.

H E R M I O N E G R A N G E R / W E A S L E Y

Hermione could faintly hear the pounding music back by the bonfire faintly, but the taste of alcohol on her tongue from Blaise's mouth was too overpowering to make her brain focus on the students singing along back by the bonfire.

She was on the bleachers to the football stadium, surrounded by a huge fence and an envelope of darkness as Blaise kissed her firmly on the lips.

He could feel his fingertips tickling up her thigh, underneath her skirt, and she pushed his hand back out again, sitting up.

"I – I need just a little break." she muttered uncomfortably, not facing Blaise.

"Go back to the party?" he husked breathlessly.

"No, it's just, I'm… I'm going through something right now and I'm just not sure if now is the right time to get into a relationship…"

Blaise grabbed her shoulders, brushing away her hair and kissing her neck from behind. She slipped out of his grasp uneasily.

"Look, you just need to relax." he pushed forward and met their lips again, Hermione leaning out of his purchase.

"What's gotten into you?" she asked disgustingly.

"I just really like you, Hermione, don't you like me?"

He pressed their mouths together again, pushing her down onto the bench of the bleacher. The cold metal met Hermione's back like a million needles.

"No – Blaise, _stop_–" she rolled out of his arms, onto the damp grass, him crashing down with her, pushing her down and holding her against her wild thrashing, intermixed with calls for help. Tears started trickling out of her eyes as she shoved against Blaise's shoulders, but he managed to press down her neck with his elbow.

Hermione choked, her knees kicking.

She managed to push him off, sobbing uncontrollably and coughing loudly, Blaise grabbing after her, attempting to catch her skirt. He threw her into the gate, causing Hermione to yell out, before hitting the ground with a branch piercing through her neck, her head, almost into her brain.

Hermione was dead with a final 'ugh' of a groan, not alive until the lethal stick would be removed from her skin.

Blaise saw blood running into her hair and froze in alarm, dropping to the floor and turning her around, seeing a long, thick part of a branch drenched in blood from being stabbed into her head. His eyes widened.

"Hermione – I, oh my god – _Hermione!_"

L I L Y E V A N S AND H A R R Y E V A N S

"You haven't said a word the whole way home," Lily said worriedly to her son, mute in the passenger seat. She smiled feebly, attempting to joke with it. "Boy, that has got to be a record."

Harry was silent, staring stonily at the road ahead.

Lily furrowed her eyebrows in concern at her son, before grinning falsely at him to lighten the mood. "You hungry? I was thinking that we could stop by that ice cream shop on the way home. You know, the one with those _ginormous_ banana splits?"

Harry, again, was quiet, until he exploded verbally, turning over to face Lily.

"Why don't you believe Dad's innocent?? We should be trying to help him." he demanded.

Lily was speechless for a moment, not quite sure how to talk about this with a child – with _Harry_. "I… I know that you want to believe in your father. But I know what's best, Harry. They're going to catch your father, and he's going to go away for a long time."

Harry shook his head, readjusting his glasses. "They'll never find him," he said smugly.

Lily furrowed her brows. "How… how do you know that?"

Silence.

"Harry, do you know where he is?"

There was a loud, whining siren from the police car that had seemed to zoom up out of nowhere, and Lily sighed, looking worriedly at Harry as though she was embarrassed to be caught by the police in front of her son. She leant her head on her hand, waiting as the officer stomped up to her car.

"Is – is there a problem, officer?" she asked sweetly, her voice cute. The officer was still grim.

"Mr. Dumbledore," he began dangerously, his lip curling into a sneer, "wants to see you."

Lily froze, her heat pumping loudly in her mind. "I'm with my son," she pleaded quietly.

But the officer had roughly opened the car door, making Lily comfortingly stroke the hair of Harry before they both climbed out of the car seats, passing by the stony man.

S I R I U S B L A C K

Sirius mingled cheerfully among the cloud, brushing by his mother and eyeing the large poster that was plastered across the wall, reading_Vote Lupin!_ brightly.

He took the glass that the bartender had slid across the slick counter, sipping at its contents and feeling the ice cubes caress across his lips.

Smiling across the building, he saw Cho, beautifully dressed up – looking as though it had taken her hours to get prepared. Sirius grazed across the sticking out elbows and the shiny shoes that he avoided stepping on, moving over to Cho smoothly.

"Hey," he said suavely, flashing her a grin. "So I guess sooner, rather than later."

He held up his glass. "To destiny," he began. Cho smiled. "may we recognize it when we see it."

Cho thought for a moment. "To love," she said, "may we stay away from it when it's no good from us."

The dull clank of their glasses echoed throughout Sirius' ears as he brought the glass to his lips and took a small sip.

"You know how earlier you were telling me how you had changed," Cho said, and Sirius nodded, "I… I noticed. There's just something different. Like – like a look in your eye. A confidence of sorts."

Sirius put down his glass.

"There's… there's something I should tell you. Something that I didn't think would be right to say when I still worked for your father, something that I wouldn't have even said to you two days ago. I've – I've been in–"

"Excuse me, good evening everybody," Remus' voice rang over the crowd, echoed by the microphone. "I apologize for the rain, if you elect me, I promise I'll do something about it."

There was a murmur of a laugh coursing through the people.

"I would like to welcome you all here. On account of my family, my staff, my wife… It… it was a life-altering event that really prompted me to try out for Congress. My father hid a depression from up until the day he died. His loving wife, his attentive children, his caring friends, we all knew about it. Yet he suffered alone.

"As many of you may have read, my brother Sirius had an accident. What I kept from the press… is that Sirius barely survived a suicide attempt."

The flash, _click_, _click_ of the multiple cameras in the room seemed to blind Sirius. He hadn't been suicidal. There had been no accident. He saw his mother staring at him in concern, even Cho's eyes on him. Did she believe Remus?

The cameras swiveled around, snapping photos of Sirius, but they turned straight back to Remus as he continued talking. It was all a blur of noise to Sirius now.

He elbowed the people out of the way, ignoring the soft whisper that called his name – Cho's whisper – as he stormed out of the building and into the rain. Anywhere but that speech. Anywhere but those _lies_.

S E A M U S F I N N I G A N AND D E A N T H O M A S

"Nissan Versa. _Nissan Versa!_" Seamus pointed fixedly at the magazine for a visual as he approached the lady at the counter.

The lady, playing boringly with her frizzy hair, seemed to awaken from her dreariness.

"Oh," she said tiredly as she saw Seamus impatiently in her line. "Nissan Versa? That's a popular choice. Let me check to see if we still have any left."

She typed away at a computer, Seamus wondering if she even knew what key she was hitting.

"Um, Seamus," Dean muttered. "We've got a connected flight leaving for New York."

"We're not flying!" Seamus brushed past, waving his hand impatiently.

"What?!" Dean asked surprisingly. "Why not?"

"It says we rent a car."

"And we drive _all_ the way?"

"Yes. In a Nissan Versa!"

"Do you know how long it's going to take?" Dean complained. "Suppose – suppose she doesn't have that exact car."

But the droopy-eyed lady turned to them, lazily throwing a key into Seamus' palm. "You're in luck," she drawled. "we have one left."

Seamus smiled satisfyingly, brandishing the key wisely in front of his friend's face. "It's our destiny, Dean."

Seamus dashed off, Dean jogging after him, as he slammed the car door closed excitedly as he got in, squealing in excitement. Dean attempted to snatch a look at his Ipoded-Lily-Evans, when Seamus nudged him in the ribs.

"Okay, we're going to Las Vegas."

Dean thought briefly at what was on the receiving end of their road trip – Lily Evans, innocently unaware of Dean and Seamus coming to visit her in Las Vegas –

He shook his head of the daydream, staring the key in the ignition.

"Yes, Seamus. It's our destiny."

C E D R I C D I G G O R Y

Cedric sighed as the sound of bubbling, frothy beers being sipped at filled his ears. Looking around, he saw nothing but people enjoying themselves, laughing and chatting with their friends and having some entertainment in a bar on an innocent Friday night.

The chubby, balding barman shuffled up to Cedric, smiling.

"How you doing?" he asked conversationally.

Cedric looked at the table. "Well – I'm… uh…"

_That was a rhetorical question. Just say fine, and order a drink_.

Cedric's head snapped up, surprised to hear the barman talk so rudely to him, when he realized that the man was still silent and smiling falsely.

"Uh – fine. Whatever you got on tap."

Rubbing at his temples, Cedric looked over to see an equally moody and brooding man sipping away at a deep glass of beer.

_That woman… sucking everything out of me._

Cedric felt a cold glass slide into his fingers. He smiled at the glum man a few stools away.

_What's he looking at? Barking up the wrong tree._

The man shook his head sadly at his glass, as though Cedric was simply going insane, smiling at random strangers… but this could be fun, if Cedric didn't acknowledge the people to it…

Turning around to face a couple on a date, he focused hard on both of them.

_What am doing here going out with him?? Am I that desperate?_

Cedric laughed quietly to himself at the uneasy woman, before turning to the man.

_She is digging me…_

Chuckling at his beer, Cedric turned to an old lady that was a stool away.

_What if I just disappeared? Would they notice? Would anybody notice? Would anybody care? Would they even know I was gone?_

Rather glumly, the smile slid off of Cedric's face. Maybe this was not to play around with, even if it was interesting.

He turned to see a tall, dark man standing by the door.

Silence.

Cedric heard nothing. No thoughts from someone…?

Then he realized that the man was staring back at him, glaring boringly into Cedric's alertful eyes.

That was strange.

A feeling nagging on the end of his spine, Cedric put down his half-finished glass and headed for the exit, when a feeling of unexplained dizziness hit him. A sharp, throbbing pain in the back of his head, something swirling about in his mind –

With a sharp _thud_, Cedric hit the floor face first, hands splayed on the floor in defeat.

S E V E R U S S N A P E

"We were in his apartment – we saw everything!" Severus explained hastily, running forward and dragging Ginny along beside him by the wrist. His coat was drenched in rain, as was his hair, but Ginny still had her hood of her jacket up above her mass of red hair. She stayed quiet as the police team thundered around them.

"And may I ask what you were doing in there?" A policeman inquired.

"Just follow me," Severus said hurriedly, and bust through the door, into the study and ready to go into the hidden hallway of the mirror. "I have evidence that Voldemort killed my father. He had a list of victims along with a man who–"

Severus was silent immediately. Everything in the apartment – from spoons to pictures, bed sheets to shampoos, was empty. No books on the shelves. No plates on the tables. It had all been emptied out.

"I… I don't understand," Snape murmured quietly, "we were here this morning."

Ginny squeezed past the police, staring horrifyingly at Severus, who nudged open the mirror. Trying to ignore the dramatic lightning strike from the thunderstorm raging on outside, Severus walked into the dimly lit hallway and found no map, no strings, no _nothing_.

S I R I U S B L A C K

Sirius could hear Remus approaching him in the dark, rainy night. But Sirius stayed hidden, behind the pillar of the parking lot garage, waiting until Remus would be close enough. He heard footsteps of his entire Congress team with him, and when Sirius finally heard Remus' gentle murmur right behind him, he pounced, and punched Remus straight in the face.

Remus fell straight onto his own car, clutching his mouth, while the rest of his team proceeded to slamming Sirius onto the pillar.

"Son of a bitch!" Sirius shouted at Remus.

"Careful, Sirius," he warned. "That's our mother you're talking about." He turned to his crew. "Let him go."

"There was no reporter on my story!" Sirius roared. "You just wanted to talk on about some silly excuse of my nonexistent illness!"

"There would have been a reporter eventually." Remus said calmly. "I had to take control of things before they would be–"

But Sirius had sent his fist flying into Remus' face once again.

Moodily, Sirius excused the hands of Remus' associates and walked out into the rain, ignoring the fact that he chilling up like ice cream and that the clothes that were sticking to his skin were not helping his case. But he would walk home this way if he had to.

But a moment later, defeated, Sirius attempted to hail a cab with his bangs plastered to his face. All the of the cars ignored him, whizzing straight past his outstretched hand.

But it was then that Cho held a red umbrella protectively over him, shouting over the rain:

"You're bleeding!"

"What?" Sirius asked, and dabbed at the sides of his mouth. Blood was trickling from his lips after being slammed into the pillar. But that wasn't the concern right now.

"Look, what Remus said – it's not true, I didn't try to kill myself!"

"No, I know."

And after a few moments of hesitation under the umbrella, Sirius leant forward, and kissed Cho.

And only a few apartments away, Draco Malfoy was looking at a sketch of the exact same thing, Sirius kissing Cho under a red umbrella to avoid the pitter-patter of the rain, a piece he had painted three weeks ago.

H E R M I O N E W E A S L E Y / G R A N G E R

Hermione, temporarily dead on an autopsy table, felt nothing as a worker dressed heavily in gloves and aprons, pulled a branch out of the side of her head and tossed it into a tin can.

Hermione awoke with a start, coughing uncontrollably as the color in her eyes slowly faded back to its original color.

She looked down at her bloodied form.

On an autopsy table, her chest cut open with the ribs and heart and muscles exposed.

"I – holy–"

_This force, evolution, is not sentimental. Like the earth itself, it knows only the hard facts of life's struggle with death. All you can do is hope and trust that when you've served its needs faithfully, there may still remain some glimmer of the life you once knew._


End file.
